The Song Of Trillions
by 2remember
Summary: [CL x Star Trek AU] We've listened to the song of trillions in our minds, waiting for the day that they could be reunited with their loved ones, waiting for the day we could finally tell their story...
1. Hunter Gatherers

**Disclaimer**: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners, particularly the characters taken from the animated series, Code Lyoko and the television series Star Trek. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.

* * *

_According to generally accepted history, the first contact between Earth and the Borg Collective occurred around the time of First Contact, April 4th, 2063. At that time, Borg from the twenty-fourth century traveled back in time to stop the first warp drive test of Zefram Cochrane and assimilate the Earth, and thereby preventing the formation of the United Federation of Planets. The _USS Enterprise-E_, under the command of then Captain Jean-Luc Picard, pursued the Borg to the twenty-first century, and thwarted their plans._

_That's what the history books say, anyway._

_From "The Song Of Trillions," by Sakura Rachel Stern-Robinson  
copyright 3063, UFP Publications_

* * *

_Earth, 2006_

The ship dropped out of warp fifteen degrees above the ecliptic of the yellow star's planetary system. The star had four gaseous planets, a sizable asteroid belt, and four inner planets of more solid matter. Additionally, there was a small body in an odd orbit around the star, the farthest in the system. Sensor scans indicated no life and nothing of immediate interest to justify altering course to rendezvous with it. They would save exploring that one for the outbound journey.

The sixth and fifth gas planets from the star held particular interest to the occupants of the ship. They were huge, and their atmospheric composition alone made the trip here worth it. These two planets would provide enough raw materials for five years, maybe six! And the massive ring system around the sixth gas planet made the system easily recognizable. The asteroid belt between the fifth and fourth planets was another treasure trove of raw materials, once again enough for five or six years of growth.

As the ship continued on into the inner system, an unusually heated debate erupted among the crew. Some said the ship should leave and call for the Harvesters now, while others insisted on continuing further in to see what was there. The argument continued for some time until the Arbiter finally settled the matter: they would continue on and investigate the phenomena that drew them to this system in the first place, the artificial energy patterns emanating from the third planet from the star.

They noted in passing that the fourth planet also had resources useful to them, and what looked like indications of technology, some of it relatively recent and active, some of it ancient and quiescent. This exploration was looking better and better to the crew. The Arbiter was definitely pleased. And that pleasure jumped to near ecstasy when the approached the third planet.

There was biological life on that planet. There was technology on that planet. That world was fairly well screaming to the universe that both were present there. The ship settled into a high orbit around the world and began detailed scans.

There were over 6 billion intelligent lifeforms on the world. The crew could easily identify them because they were so closely associated with the technology they were searching for. Of course, the natives weren't as _intimately_ associated with their technology as the ship's crew were, but that could easily be remedied when the Harvesters came. The technology was, for the most part, unspectacular. The natives of this world were well behind the ship's crew, technologically, but that was of little consequence. The technology could be easily adapted for their use, or broken down to raw components and reutilized.

Then the scans turned up some of anomalies. In one of the population concentrations on the spinward coast of the smaller of the two major land masses, was technology that was comparable to their own. It was highly sophisticated and had extensive safeguards. It also looked like it had been in place for a while, and not recently used. There was a similar technology signature in a remote location on a small island spinward of the first, across a somewhat large body of liquid and just above the larger of the two major land masses.

Then the ship caught something else.

Just south of the island location was a technology that was totally unique. It didn't have the technology signature of the other two anomalies, it was definitely part of the technology of this world. But it gave off distinct quantum signatures, as if it were some kind of quantum field generator. Now this was the kind of technology they were looking for!

Suddenly, a huge bright light bloomed from the location, covering the entire planet, then spreading out from the planet to the ship and beyond. Their sensors warned of an oncoming chronometric particle wave, so the crew took defensive measures to ride the wave out. When the disturbance ended, the ship was in interstellar space twenty light years from the star system, and several time intervals in the past. The eight members of the crew evaluated the data received during the disturbance, then presented their results to the Arbiter, the ninth crew member and commander of the ship.

"We will return to the third planet," the Arbiter said, "we must secure the technology that generated the wave so the Harvesters may proceed unimpeded. We will add the biological and technological distinctiveness of that world to our own, so the Borg may achieve perfection. Set course to the sixth planet of that star system."

* * *

"Wow, that was a close one," Jeremie Belpois said to his friends. They were all standing around the console of the supercomputer as Jeremie evaluated the results of the latest XANA attack.

Jeremie used the supercomputer to tap into the school's security cameras and checked the area around the campus. He didn't see anything, or anyone out of place, so he breathed a sigh of relief.

"Well, it looks like we didn't lose anybody," the blond haired genius said, "I specifically checked the track and Jim was out there teaching class."

"I'll have to admit, I thought he didn't pull through that one," remarked a dark haired Japanese girl, Yumi Ishiyama, "I was dead certain he and Mrs. Hertz were in the middle of that one explosion.'

"Oh, yeah, I forgot about Mrs. Hertz!" Jeremie said. He quickly pulled up another program, a telephone program, and dialed a phone number.

"Hello? Suzanne Hertz speaking," came Mrs. Hertz's voice. The gang was relieved.

"Hello? Is this some kind of prank?" came her voice after a moment, angry now. Jeremie was half tempted to play a phone prank, just to give them cover, as well as jerk her chain a little, but decided against it. He terminated the connection.

"Well, we'd better get back to school," Jeremie said, "everybody take a casual look around when we get back, just to make sure we're not missing somebody. And, yes Ulrich, that means Sissi, Hervé and Nicholas too."

Jeremie then got out of the chair, slipped his arm around the waist of the pink haired girl that had been standing next to him and pulled her close, and the couple headed towards the elevator. The brunette boy Jeremie directed his last statement at just lowered his head and muttered something. Yumi gave him a reassuring pat and a "poor baby."

As the gang left, the other blond in the group, Odd Della Robbia, said, "well, another day, another time the world got saved. You know, even though XANA escaped, it's still pretty easy to beat him. I'm almost bored; I wish he'd give us more of a challenge next time."

* * *

That night, a small cube, about the size of a house, descended from the sky and landed on the roof of the old factory near Kadic Academy in Paris, France. The cube rested there a moment, then vanished. Soon after that, eight figures appeared and made their way inside, searching for the technology they had scanned from orbit. No one noticed their coming, no human, that was.

From an orbiting satellite, XANA had observed the cube's arrival and landing on the factory's roof. After its latest attack failed, XANA retreated to the satellite to devise a new strategy. When it saw the ship arrive, then land on the roof, it knew it had the perfect opportunity. XANA launched itself down to the supercomputer, to investigate this new finding.

When it got to the factory, it slipped back into the supercoputer, then messed up the SuperScan Jeremie used to watch for activated towers. After that, XANA activated a tower and sent a probe to the roof.

When it got there, it saw eight figures had emerged from the invisible cube. They were not human, but they were humanoid in appearance, and what was even better, they were infused with computer technology! XANA quickly entered one of the figures and began its takeover.

* * *

_Arbiter, what should we do?_ one of the drones asked the commander as XANA invaded. The moment the drones set foot of the roof of the building, some kind of program infiltrated a low security communications link, and began trying to subvert their systems. They were quickly adapting to the attack, and were about ready to destroy the interloper. The drone was querying to see if they could proceed.

_This program is somewhat interesting, _the Arbiter replied, _not in its own right, but what it controls. The technology we seek is a computing device below this building, and this program seems to be a primary interface to it. It seems to have a rudimentary intelligence algorithm, but that is of no ultimate consequence. For now, we shall lead the program to believe it has taken control. We will let it run, and monitor it to see when and how it interfaces with the computer we seek. Once we have enough information to easily take control, we shall assimilate the program._

* * *

When XANA entered its victim, it found not one, but nine minds inside. The beings were linked together and to the ship by their technology. And as soon as XANA invaded, they began a massive counterattack.

XANA was at a disadvantage; it had to figure out the base machine code of the technology that the creatures used as well as the intersystem communication protocols, somehow figure out the thought processes of the creatures themselves, all while trying to keep them from overwhelming and deleting it. It seemed like an eternity, but XANA finally succeeded.

As it settled in, it marveled at what it had acquired. This technology was capable of resisting somewhat the effects of the time shifting capabilities of the supercomputer! XANA could utilize these creatures to destroy the supercomputer, and if an attempt failed, it could use them all over again, and compensate for whatever mistakes it made in previous attacks. And even better, there were others like these creatures roaming around the galaxy, looking for worlds like Earth. They were a vast network of interlinked creatures, most with even greater capabilities than the small group it had captured.

XANA paused. Until now, it had been trying to destroy mankind. Now, it had the capability to dominate, to control not only mankind, but trillions of creatures. It didn't even pause a microsecond to consider; XANA moved from world destroyer to world conqueror. It would impose its own logic on creation, it would bring order to the chaos that was Earth.

It would raise the world, then the galaxy itself, to ultimate perfection.


	2. A Message In A Bottle

**Disclaimer**: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners, particularly the characters taken from the animated series, Code Lyoko and the television series Star Trek. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.

* * *

_Earth, 3006_

Sakura Rachael Stern had a problem, one that threatened relations between the United Federation of Planets and the Borg Collective.

Three weeks ago, nine year old Sakura started feeling ill. She had trouble eating, became listless, and her already pale skin started getting even paler. Then, implants started popping out of her. When the first star shaped device bloomed on her right temple, her parents called the authorities. Starfleet sent over two investigators familiar with Borg technology and confirmed the worst; Sakura was indeed being assimilated into the Collective.

It had been six hundred years since the Borg last attempted to assimilate humanity, in the twenty-fourth century, and the Truce between the Collective and the Federation had been in place for well over five hundred years. Both groups benefited from the relationship, so why would the Borg suddenly break the treaty? And why a nine year old child?

Those were the questions that the Federation President asked the representative drones of the Borg twenty-four hours ago. The Borg replied that the Collective did not infect the child, but could not provide any reason why the girl was being assimilated.

"Bring the child to us, so we may analyze her," they finally said.

Now, little Sakura was in the Borg cube that acted as their Embassy to Earth, sitting in a chair, surrounded by three Borg drones who were impassively regarding her. Behind her, Sakura's parents waited nervously for whatever would happen next.

"The child is indeed being assimilated," intoned the Voice of the Collective, "and this act was not sanctioned by the Collective. The infestation is not totally pervasive, so unless the guardians of this child desire otherwise, we will remove the implants and repair what modifications have been made."

"Please do that; return our daughter to us," said Sakura's father.

One of the drones extended its arm to the implant on Sakura's temple. A nanoprobe injector extended out and connected with the device. Seconds after the connection was made, another drone approached Sakura's father.

"The nanoprobes that are assimilating her came from you," the Voice said, "you must be examined. Please cooperate with us so we may peacefully resolve this incident."

Mr. Stern was stunned and speechless. _He_ had infected his daughter?

The Borg drone walked up to the man and extended its arm at him. Then, a pair of nanoproe injectors shot out of the drone's fist and hit Mr. Stern's arm. After a moment to evaluate the results, the Voice said, "dormant nanoprobes are present in your body. The technology is consistent with the nanoprobes found in the child and with current Borg technology. Verify that this is your first encounter with the Borg."

"Y-y-yes, it is," Mr. Stern stammered.

"You have never been away from Federation Sector 001 for any reason?"

"No. I was born and raised in the EuroStates. I moved to North America twenty years ago. I haven't even been to the moon."

That answer seemed to satisfy the drones. The one who had extended the nanoprobe injectors to Mr. Stern withdrew them and stepped back.

"Very well. Mr. Stern. We are in the process of removing the Borg technology from your daughter. She will have to be placed in a gestation chamber for twenty-four hours to effect complete biological reversal of the assimilation process. We assure you that she will not be harmed in any way. We must determine how and why you both were targeted, so we may need to communicate with you again. We will provide accommodations for you among us; or you may return to your domicile until this time tomorrow. The Borg apologize for causing you any trouble, and we will do all in our power to rectify it."

As the Voice spoke, Sakura began to feel drowsy, then slipped into unconsciousness. The drone that had interfaced with her gently picked up the girl and carried her away. In another part of the cube, the drone carefully removed Sakura's clothes, attached a breathing apparatus to her face, and placed the sleeping girl into a gestation chamber configured for the removal operation. The last thing the drone did before leaving the girl was to plug an interface cable into the implant in the girl's temple. That implant would be the last piece of technology removed from the girl, so the Borg could investigate how the nanoprobes came to be in her in the first place. When the chamber closed, a greenish fluid filled the tank, and the nanoprobes contained within began their work.

* * *

In the chamber, Sakura dreamed she was floating in a green mist, peaceful and calm.

"Hello child," came a woman's voice, "my, my, you sure have caused a ruckus, haven't you?"

Sakura saw a woman floating before her. She was an older woman, silver and gray showing prominently in the brown of her hair. But her hair was the only indication that the woman was old; her skin was wrinkle free as she smiled at Sakura. Her voice was kind of deep and husky for a woman, though. And she was wearing, of all things, an old Starfleet uniform.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to do anything," Sakura told the woman, a sob starting in he throat.

"It isn't your fault, dear," the woman said, "and we're going to fix you up right as rain."

That statement brightened the little girl up. "Ah, ma'am, who are you?" Sakura then asked.

"Why, I am the Borg Queen," the woman replied, "but you can call me Kathy."

"Why are you here? Aren't you light years and light years away from Earth?"

"Yes, I am, but where ever my drones are, I'm there too. Now, have you ever encountered a Borg before today?"

"No ma'am, I've never even been to San Fransisco until today."

"Now that's very strange," Kathy, the Borg Queen said, "maybe I should query one of the nanoprobes we found inside you to see if it has any kind of explanation."

Sakura's dream then changed. The green mist changed to red, and it seemed like something like wind or water rushed all around the girl and the Borg Queen. Kathy looked about, then like lightning, grabbed something. It was a small, square thing, with what looked like legs sticking out of its sides.

"Hmm, let's see now," Kathy said to herself as she concentrated.

Suddenly, a new voice rang out, a male voice.

"Well, it's about damn time, mom!"

* * *

The Borg Embassy lifted up from its location in San Fransisco, causing a hellacious snarl in air traffic around the city. The Borg contacted Planetary Orbital Control, declaring an emergency liftoff, and stating that the cube was heading for the Gamma Quadrant, via the Bajor Wormhole.

The Sterns were caught in the cube when it lifted off. Drones came and escorted the couple to human compatible chambers and told them that their daughter's situation had precipitated the sudden departure, as the Borg Embassy on Earth was the closest Borg vessel to the person they needed to contact. Since they really didn't have any say in the matter, the Sterns thanked the drones for the accommodations and settled in for the ride.

The cube made excellent time to Bajor. When it entered the system, it notified Deep Space Nine of its intention to transit the wormhole. Bajoran Traffic Control acknowledged the request, stating that Starfleet Command had already contacted them, and they were in the process of clearing the transit lanes for the cube. The vessel adjusted its speed to give Bajor enough time clear a path and proceeded on.

The cube had no trouble transiting the wormhole, and it quickly arrived in the Gamma Quadrant. It notified the Dominion Transit Station of its intentions and proceeded on its mission. As the ship sped on, it sent out a message to the Federation starship _Intrepid_: rendezvous with the cube immediately and allow interface with One-from-One, currently serving as Executive Officer.

The _Intrepid_ acknowledged the transmission, and established rendezvous coordinates.


	3. The Borg Prince

**Disclaimer**: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners, particularly the characters taken from the animated series, Code Lyoko and the television series Star Trek. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.

* * *

_Gamma Quadrant, 3006_

Captain Yanni Petrovich had been in Starfleet for over twenty years, but contact with the Borg still gave him the creeps. Sure, he had a Borg as his first officer, but Juan was normal ninety-nine point nine nine percent of the time. It was that point one hundredth of the time that always creeped him out.

Captain Petrovich received the message from the Borg cube about five minutes after he received the priority transmission from Starfleet Headquarters, telling him that the Borg ship was heading for the Gamma Quadrant, and, oh, would he please find out from them just what the hell was going on?

Captain Petrovich sighed, then activated his com badge.

"Captain to Commander Janeway."

"Janeway here," came the XO's reply, "I know what you're going to ask, sir, and I'm already in contact with the Collective, so I know what's going on. You should be receiving a message from Startfleet HQ detaching me for duty with the Borg shortly. I'll be up in a few minutes to give you a report. Janeway out."

_Yup, it's that point one hundredth time,_ the captain thought to himself.

* * *

Borg drone One-from-One, a.k.a., Commander Juan Janeway, was in the ship's lounge taking a break. His eyes were unfocused as they stared out the viewport, for he was listenng to the characteristic song of the Collective that usually whispered in the back of his mind: _One-from-One, come back to us... You must rejoin us... We miss you... We love you..._

That whisper was constantly with him, as the Collective continually called him to return, and assured him that they were still there, waiting. His mother always told him there was nothing that could be done about it unless he totally separated himself from the Collective, something he had no desire to do. He had returned to the Collective on many occasions, about as often as he had shore leave near Earth or a Borg ship. And, as much as he loved and appreciated his individuality, he also loved the commonality of the Hive Mind.

Suddenly, the whisper in the back of his mind jumped from whisper to speech.

_One-from-One, return to us now. Your services are required for the survival of the Collective._

Then came another voice, one that couldn't be ignored; one he would never ignore, _Son, a Borg ship will rendezvous with the Intrepid momentarily. Prepare yourself to transfer aboard. Something's come up and I need you to take care of it._

His reply was short and to the point, _yes, mother._

Information then started flowing to him about Sakura Stern and what had been found in both her and her father. Memories of his Temporal Mechanics classes in school flooded back to him, particularly the lecture on the Closed Time Loop, where events would occur that precipitate a jump back in time to initiate the events that precipitated the jump in the first place.

"Captain to Commander Janeway," came Captain Petrovich's voice on his com badge, pulling him out of his reverie.

"Janeway here," he replied, " know what you're going to ask, sir, and I'm already in contact with the Collective, so I know what's going on. You should be receiving a message from Startfleet HQ detaching me for duty with the Borg shortly. I'll be up in a few minutes to give you a report. Janeway out."

Juan got up and left the lounge, heading for the bridge. As he walked, he sent out a mental command to the nanoprobes that coursed through his body. At his command, changes started to occur in the Commander's body, as Borg technology that had lain dormant came to life. External interface ports sprouted on various portions of his body, and a Borg bio-support suit began to form under his Starfleet uniform. By the time he got to the turbolift and rose to the bridge, the nanoprobes were absorbing his uniform. When he arrived on the bridge, only his com badge remained of his Starfleet persona. A full fledged Borg drone walked on to the bridge.

"The captain is in his Ready Room waiting for you Commander," the ship's navigator said, not even looking up from his console.

Juan just nodded and went to the captain's door and activated the annunciator.

"Come," came Captain Petrovich's voice from inside.

Juan entered the office. The captain looked up from his desk and his eyes got wide in surprise for a moment. The Commander centered himself before the captain's desk and stood at attention.

"Sorry about the quick change, sir," Juan said, "the Borg ship will be here soon, and as soon as it gets here, I'll be going."

"I understand, Commander," the captain replied, "and I just received your orders releasing you for TAD with the Borg. I don't think I've ever seen Starfleet move this fast on anything."

Juan chuckled, "yeah, the Borg tend to not waste time on bureaucracy. Anyway, here's the situation: about three weeks ago, a young girl in southern Washington state, North America, was infected by Borg nanoprobes. Yesterday, frank symptoms of assimilation started showing. Now, the Collective had nothing to do with whatever happened, but the girl was brought to the Borg Embassy to see what was up. To make a long story short, Mother got involved and found out that the nanoprobes that were assimilating her have been around somewhere on the order of a thousand years."

"A thousand years?" the captain exclaimed, "that would put it..."

"At the beginning of the twenty-first century, sir. Fifty-seven years before First Contact, as a matter of fact."

"But Earth had no direct contact with other races until then! And certainly not the Borg!"

"Not only that," Juan said, "the Borg have no record of contact with Earth prior to the a distress call that originated somewhere in the twenty-second century, and received in the twenty-fourth. That led to the Borg's initial exploration of the Alpha Quadrant, and led to the temporal incursion from the twenty-fourth century to First Contact in the twenty-first, which resulted in the transmission of the distress call in the twenty-second century of surviving Borg from First Contact. Mother has checked and rechecked all of that that. She even has drones going through records never integrated into the Collective to see if something there might explain what happened."

"So, why you? Why not let Starfleet send a ship back to investigate?"

"Because I am the one who evidently released the nanoprobes in the twenty-first century."

"But that's against the Temporal Prime Directive! You'd never do anything like that! And if so, I'll have to place you under arrest for what you are about to do!"

The captain started to call for Security when Juan interrupted.

"Sir, the Borg aren't quite so persnickety about time travel as the Federation is," Juan said, "plus, preventing my journey would more than likely be a Prime Directive violation, since we have concrete evidence that I did make the trip, and everything's normal. Anyway, the point is moot. The Borg ship is coming into transporter range so..."

With that, Commander Janeway vanished in a Borg transporter beam, leaving nothing but his Starfleet com badge behind.

Captain Petrovich sat back in his chair.

"You would they would have better manners since Admiral Janeway took over," he said to the now empty room.

* * *

One-from-One materialized on the Borg ship before a vacant alcove. He immediately stepped in it and interfaced himself into the Collective.

_We are returning to Earth, _came the voice of the Borg Queen, his mother, _you will be launched on your mission from within the Bajor Wormhole. When we enter the transit point, we will contact the Prophets Of Bajor to inform them of our incursion. Your vessel is even now being configured for your mission._ Then, she added in a softer voice, _son, I'm sorry to have to tell you this, but your trip must be one way. When you complete your mission, you must insure that no trace of your presence remains, other than the nanoprobes you will leave behind. I'm sorry._

The ship One-from-One would use was no more than a regeneration alcove modified for independent operations and time travel. The necessary interfaces were downloaded into his mind and body, along with a copy of the nanoprobe that the Borg Queen removed from Sakura Stern. Additionally, details of Borg technology at that time were implanted, enough so he could interface with and control any twenty-first century Borg he encountered. Historical data from Starfleet's database on Earth in the beginning of the twenty-first century was added, along with a refresher course in twenty-first century French. Finally, a copy of the Collective was loaded in his ship, for assistance and companionship.

His destination was to be Paris, France in the year 2006, approximately three months before the supposed invasion took place. His mission was to stop the Borg from whatever they were doing, and do it in such a way as no one ever knew it happened.


	4. The School Psychologist

**Disclaimer**: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners, particularly the characters taken from the animated series, Code Lyoko and the television series Star Trek. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.

* * *

_Paris, France, 2006_

The temporal jump went without a hitch, and One-from-One found himself on an approach to Earth. Checking the radio and TV emissions coming from the planet, he was able to determine that he had made it to the right place at the right time. Sensors showed no indication of the other Borg ship anywhere in the area. Even so, One-from-One initiated a complete cloak of his small vessel and set the ship on an insertion orbit around the planet.

He placed his ship in an equatorial orbit and conducted more scans; some more detailed than he really needed to. Maybe, the data would make it back to the Collective, and it would be added to the Knowledge Base stored there, then shared with Federation historians and anthropologists. He also made it a point to monitor all communication broadcasts; that way, he could be up-to-date as to what was going on, both on Earth as a whole, as well as the region he would be searching in.

The nanoprobe that his mother had supplied was tantalizingly vague on a lot of things; necessary, it said, because events might not be exactly the way they were this time around. The one thing that should be constant is that the thing the Borg would be looking for is somehow connected to an institution called Kadic Academy, located in Paris, France. One-from-One tapped into the planetary information network of Earth, known at the time as the Internet, and quickly found information about Kadic Academy. It was a private college preparatory school located in the suburbs of Paris, and taught students from elementary level education through high school. One-from-One somehow had to insert himself into that school in such a way that he could move freely about and investigate.

His opening quickly presented itself when he saw a job listing for a school psychologist at Kadic Academy. The Borg quickly ascertained the requirements of the job, then crafted an identity to meet that requirement. He would have to add some hard documentation to back up the facade he created, but that didn't present too much of an obstacle. Over the next twenty-four hours, he made brief excursions to the places he needed to, adding the documentation he needed to cover himself. In some cases, he even modified the memories of select individuals to corroborate what he would tell the Kadic people.

Once all that groundwork was laid, he tapped into the communications system and contacted the headmaster of the Academy. The principal, Jean-Pierre Delmas, was surprised and delighted by One-from-One's phone call, as they had been looking for a new psychologist for some time now. He arranged for an employment interview for that day, then settled back to wait.

* * *

"Dr. Janeway, your resumé is certainly impressive," Mr. Delmas said in the interview, "and we certainly can use a man of your caliber her at Kadic. But I must ask, what brings you to Paris from America? Certainly there are plenty of opportunities in your home country?"

"Yes there are, sir," Dr. Juan Janeway, aka One-from-One, replied, "and I have worked at several schools there, as you can see on my employment history. But I wanted a little excitement in my life, so I took to wandering. Unfortunately, I couldn't wander very far on what a school psychologist makes in the United States, so I had to curb my wanderlust somewhat and recharge my bank account. I happened to be in Paris at the time, so I decided to look for work here."

"Does that mean that you will be moving on very soon?"

"The way things work out, probably not," he said, "did you ever see that movie, 'Support Your Local Sheriff'? Well, I'm 'on my way to Australia' so to speak, but I wouldn't be a bit surprised if I wind up spending the rest of my days here."

"Well, seeing as no one else has applied for the job, I'll have to give your resumé serious consideration," the principal finally said, "however, if we tender you an offer, it will be for the entire school year. If you think you may need to 'amble on,' as it were, before then, please don't accept the position. It wouldn't be fair to either the school or the students."

"I will do that, sir," Juan replied.

After the interview, Janeway took a stroll around the campus looking for two things. One, any indication of what he needed to find. The other was a place to hide his ship while he was here. The best place he found for that was in a small lake in the park that adjoined the school. It was close by and deep enough to completely hide the ship, and gave him a plausible way in and out of the school, so he didn't really have to find a place to transport away.

He spent the rest of the day seeing the sights of the area around the school. He did this purely for his own pleasure; it had been a long time since he last was in Paris, and seeing it in its ancient glory only added to the fun.

When he materialized back in his ship's alcove, he found that the school had indeed back checked all of his references. He also had a call on his 'answering machine' from Mr. Delmas, offering him the position under the terms they had discussed in his office. Juan called the principal back and accepted his offer, and said he would come by tomorrow to fill out any paperwork necessary.

* * *

_The worst part of this mission,_ thought Juan Janeway, _is the waiting. I had to sit and twiddle my thumbs for two months waiting for the school year to start, now I have to poke around and find someone who knows what the hell I'm looking for. And that damn nanoprobe is worse than a Chinese puzzle box, and about as inscrutable! But I must be in the right place, given all of the chronometric waves I've ridden out._

Juan began his job as the school psychologist the Monday after he accepted the offer. Mr. Delmas introduced him to the teaching staff, and set up meetings so they could bring him up to speed on the students that would be coming back and what they had observed. He took detailed notes, just for show.

"Oh, Dr. Janeway!" Sissi Delmas, his self appointed assistant called out, "is there anything I can do for you?

Jean-Pierre also introduced him to his daughter, Elizabeth. Juan took one look at the girl and thought, _trouble_. She was alternately fawning, condescending, rude, obnoxious, sweet, kind and caring. There were times when Juan wondered how the girl could fit her head through the doors; other days he wondered whether or not he was going to have to assimilate her just to keep her out of his hair. For some reason, Elizabeth, or Sissi, as she preferred to be called, had made it her goal in life to Find Out Everything About Him. At first he thought it was cute, but after three days he was considering either assimilation or murder.

"No, Elizabeth, I'm fine, thank you," he replied.

"Are you sure?" she said, trying to wheedle into his good graces, "maybe some coffee or a snack? I know! Let's go out for the afternoon together!"

_Like that is ever going to happen, _Janeway thought to himself. Then he got an idea.

"Maybe you can help me," he began, "there's a student I've been particularly worried about, and I'm not sure how I can help her."

"And you think I can help?" Sissi responded.

"Yes, I really think so," Juan replied. He reached into one of his desk drawers and quickly pulled a think pile of papers out, then stuffed them into a folder he had on his desk."

"I've found these documents just now about this poor girl, and I was shocked at what I read!" he continued, "why I'm surprised that no one has been killed! I really need to tell the principal about this, but I'm kind of nervous. The girl in question has considerable connections in the school administration, so I don't know what will happen if I send my report through channels. I was wondering, could you take this file and show it to your father, without anyone noticing? It would really help me if you could."

"Sure!" she replied, reaching out for the folder. Dr. Janeway handed it to her and she took a look at the name on the tab, hoping for a really good piece of either gossip or blackmail.

The name on the folder was Elizabeth Delmas.

"What!" she shouted, throwing the folder back on the desk. Janeway couldn't help it, he laughed at her reaction.

"That's what can happen if you're too helpful," he said after settling down, "now, sit down, young lady, we need to talk."

Stunned, the principal's daughter sat.

"Now, you've been trying to worm your way into my life since I got here," he began, "it was cute at first, but got old fast. Now, if you're really and truly trying to be a help to me, I apologize for this. Otherwise, I'd appreciate it if you practiced a little more decorum in your interactions with me and the rest of the staff. This school is not a fiefdom, and you are not the Lord's daughter."

"You can't talk to me that way!" the girl shouted back, "just wait 'til I tell daddy!"

"Okay, we'll do this the hard way," Juan said, then picked up the phone and dialed.

"Yes, sir, I just called to tell you that the situation we previously discussed has come about, so I really need to know, orphanage or nunnery?" There was silence as the psychologist listened. "Are you sure, Mr. Delmas? I mean, she is your daughter and all... Umhmm, umhmm. Alright, as you wish."

The entire time, Sissi stared wide eyed at the man. What had he just said to her father?

"Ms. Delmas, your father would like to have a word with you," Dr. Janeway finally said, extending the phone to the girl.

She stood up and took the receiver. The next few minutes were filled with her nodding her head, saying, "uhuh," and "yes, sir." Finally, after three minutes, she handed the phone back to Juan.

"Your father and I have been exploring your behavior over the last few days," he said, "and some of it bothers him a lot. Now, you've got a lot of things going for you, but you're either not utilizing them, or you're using them in the wrong way, and I think it's about time we started doing something about that. So, it looks like you are going to get your way, in a manner of speaking. I'm going to start setting aside time for you and I to talk. But I'm going to be the one learning about you, not the other way around. Oh, and we'll be including your father in some of these sessions, because the two of you need to get some facts of life straightened out."

Janeway then set up a time for Sissi's first counseling session. Once he was done, he dismissed the girl.

It wasn't quite as satisfying as murder would have been, but hopefully the girl would get something out of it. And if not, there was always assimilation, or murder...

* * *

When he wasn't talking to teachers about students, he was trying to milk as much information out of the nanoprobe the Borg Queen gave him as he could, and that was proving to be a challenge. The data contained in the nanoprobe wasn't raw data, it was a program, an Artificial Intelligence designed to give only certain information out when certain conditions have been met. He tried every trick he knew to try and get around it, but failed. Each time, he cursed his previous self for being so good at making the stupid thing.

Today, he was looking at a list of students that would be arriving over the next few days. Some of the names had been highlighted; these were kids that the staff was concerned about for one reason or another. The previous psychologist had left good notes on a lot of the children, so Juan should be able to catch up.

There were several names flagged on his list that really didn't have files, though: Jeremie Belpois, Odd Della Robbia, Yumi Ishiyama, Ulrich Stern and Aelita Stones. They didn't have files with the previous psychologist, except for Jeremie, and that was related more to his intellectual gifts than any problems he had. But conversations with the staff, particularly Jim Moralés and Suzanne Hertz, tagged the group as 'strange.' Despite his best efforts to find out what they meant by strange, Janeway couldn't get a precise answer. The only thing useful the new psychologist found out was the leader of that particular clique was Jeremie Belpois. He put the five towards the top of his interview list, especially since Ulrich's name set off alarms. The little girl who had been infected was named Stern, so maybe there was a connection. He made a note to speak with each of these students as soon as he could.

Some of the other names on the list quite frankly needed help, though. Juan made it a point to schedule appointments with these students immediately. He was being paid to help these kids out, and he was going to do the best he could in the time he had here.

* * *

Juan was counseling Hervé Pichon when the attack came. One moment, all was peaceful and normal, the next minute, explosions were happening all around the campus.

"Wha', what was that?" Hervé hollered.

"Get down!" Juan said as an explosion hit close enough to blow in the window to his office. When the dust settled, the psychologist got up and looked out the window. Students were running all around in a panic. Teachers and staff were trying to corral the kids and get them to safety, but they were on the edge of panic themselves, so the weren't doing much good.

"Hervé, get out of here and get clear of the building! Try and make you way off campus! Run for any military, police or fire personnel you find and let them know what's going on here!"

The boy nodded in understanding and ran off. Juan got up and headed outside, determined to organize some kind of evacuation effort. When he got outside, he noticed that five of the students on his short interview list were running into the park. The last one he saw, Yumi Ishiyama stopped for a moment and looked back at the school.

Janeway looked around and saw that Suzanne Hertz was frantically talking to Jim Moralés, no doubt trying to find some way to organize an evacuation. Juan noticed something else, too, an inbound projectile was heading straight for their location.

"Jim, Suzanne, get out of there!" he hollered at the two, but it was too late. Juan didn't even think; he beamed the two teachers from the spot just as the projectile impacted and exploded. His shields snapped in place as the shrapnel and rubble from the explosion lashed out his way. The world was engulfed in smoke and dust for a moment, then cleared. Before the dust totally settled, Janeway rematerialized the two teachers back in the spot he snatched them from, none the worse for the wear. They were shaking their heads and blinking when he ran up to them and offered his help in getting the students clear of the area. They put their confusion behind them and helped Juan organize the students.

Whatever was bombing the school was still carrying on when a chronometric wave washed over the scene. When it passed, Juan was back in his ship regenerating.

_According to the information on the nanoprobe, the Borg ship will land around here tonight then, _he thought to himself.

That evening, Juan observed the Borg cube land on the roof of the old factory, and eight drones exit the cloaked vehicle. For a moment, it seemed like something had happened to them, but the moment passed and they proceeded on their mission.

_Hmm, I wonder what that was all about,_ the new school psychologist thought to himself, _well, at least now I know about where the thing is I'm looking for, now I just have to find out what. I think it's time to talk to the ringleader of my prime suspects, Mr. Belpois._


	5. An Appointment

**Disclaimer**: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners, particularly the characters taken from the animated series, Code Lyoko and the television series Star Trek. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.

* * *

Jeremie Belpois poked at his lunch, staring sullenly into his plate. He was so engrossed in identifying and counting every crack in the surface of the plate, he never noticed when his girlfriend, Aelita Stones, sat down beside him.

"What's wrong, Jeremie, you look like you got a ninety-one on your last math test," the pink haired girl said.

"Oh, it's nothing really," Jeremie replied as he looked up from his plate at her, "it's just that I've got an appointment with the new school psychologist after lunch, and I'm not really looking forward to it."

"Why? Dr. Janeway seems like a nice enough man," Aelita replied.

"I don't know," the genius replied, "there's something not quite right about him. I can't put my finger on it, but he's not who he says he is."

"But Jeremie, the principal interviewed him and everything! I'm sure they did a complete background check. I thought I heard one of the teachers say he graduated near the top of his class at Harvard."

"Something's still not right," Jeremie said, "last week, Hervé went to see him, and he's been acting different ever since."

"Well, maybe Dr. Janeway helped Hervé grow up a little. It sure seemed that way when he told off Sissi the next day."

"That's what I'm talking about! Hervé has too big a crush on Sissi to ever tell her to get screwed by her high horse. And here's another thing, Dr. Janeway has been talking to all of the students in school, not just the troubled ones. The last psychologist they had here never did that."

"Well, maybe that's why Dr. Janeway is here, because the last one wasn't doing his job."

"I don't know," Jeremie said at last, "look, would you do me a favor? Keep an eye on me after I get done with him. If I start acting strange or different, tell the others not to go anywhere near that man."

* * *

Jeremie sat nervously outside the School Psychologist's office, waiting for his appointment. On the door, the little name plaque said, Dr. Juan Janeway, Psychologist. Dr. Janeway came to Kadic Academy three months ago, during summer break, and had immediately started interviewing the students once the term started, starting with the freshman class. It didn't seem like there was any rhyme or reason to the man's selection; he seemed to just randomly start with one student, then randomly selected the next. After Hervé's meeting with him last week, Jeremie got the note from Jim stating he was next.

The door suddenly opened, and Dr. Janeway stood before him.

"Ah, Mr. Belpois, right on time! Please come in."

Jeremie got up and joined Dr. Janeway in his office. He moved like a man on his way to the gallows.

Once inside, Dr. Janeway shut the door and motioned Jeremie to a seat in front of his desk. "Have a seat, Jeremie. I just need to wrap some paperwork up, then we can get started." The boy sat in the chair indicated, and the man went back to his desk, sat down, then began writing on some papers he had on his desk.

Dr. Janeway was a tall man, about forty years old. He had brownish hair cut short; not as short as a soldier might wear, but rather something a businessman might wear. He wrote for a few moments, then set his pen aside and put the papers in a manila folder. He then folded his hands on the desk in front of him and looked at Jeremie.

"I bet you're wondering why I asked you to come here today," Dr. Janeway said without any preamble, "and I don't blame you. So let me come straight to the point. I'm looking for something, something that doesn't belong here. I've been chasing Will O' The Wisps so far, but last week, I got a clue that you might have some idea of what I'm looking for. Now, I'll tell you up front that I'm not looking for trouble, but I am looking to forestall trouble. Have you seen anything or anyone around campus that looks unusual or out of place?"

"Yeah, you," was the genius' answer.

"You are correct in more ways than you know," Janeway replied, "but, other than me, have you noticed anything unusual? Maybe it's not here, but somewhere close by, like the park? Or what about that old factory close by?"

Jeremie's heart almost jumped out of his throat when Dr. Janeway mentioned the factory. He thought, _does he know about the supercomputer? Has he been following us?_

"I think I've got me a winner," Dr. Janeway said, smiling. He then raised his fist and pointed it directly at Jeremie. Suddenly, something shot out of his hand and hit Jeremie. Two tubes had extended from between Janeway's knuckles, across the desk, and into the boy's neck. Jeremie tried to cry out, but couldn't.

_Don't struggle, Jeremie,_ came the psychologist's voice in Jeremie's head. But that was impossible, the man hadn't opened his mouth!

_Everything will be all right in a moment,_ came the voice again, _just settle down, resistance is futile._ Dr. Janeway's mental voice hitched a little laugh at that last remark.

_Wha... what are you doing to me?_ Jeremie thought back.

_Interrogating your memories. I haven't got a lot of time, and I need to find out why they're here. Oh, and I think I've found it._

Suddenly, Jeremie was remembering _everything_ about the factory, the supercomputer, Lyoko, XANA, and worst of all, his friends.

_Yes, at this point in their development, they would certainly love to get their hands on a quantum computer, especially one capable of generating chronometric waves. Jeremie, listen very carefully to me. Aliens from another world, called the Borg, have landed on Earth, here in Paris. It seems like they got here about a week ago, after your last XANA attack. Now, my next question is very important: have you or any of your friends been back to the factory since that last attack?_

_No, _Jeremie replied, _and if you're reading my thoughts, you should know that._

_You would think, but there are ways around this method of communication,_ Dr. Janeway replied, _these aliens aren't that sophisticated yet, but I can't take any chances. Now, in a moment, I am going to disconnect from you. I had to inject you with something called nanoprobes in order to communicate directly with your mind. That is what I've done with the other students I've seen so far. They are none the worse for the wear, other than some adjustments to resolve some minor teenage angst issues that have been going on for way too long. But, in your case, it's a little different. The nanoprobes I used on the others deactivated and destroyed themselves after the session was over. The ones I injected you with are going to remain active for quite some time, the rest of your life as a matter of fact. I can't explain it to you now, but I promise I will when the time comes. Let's just say for now that it is vital for the survival of the human race that things be this way. And I'm going to have to tell you to do something that you won't like doing. I need you to infect your other friends with these nanoprobes; they will need the protection they provide, and they need to carry them for the rest of their lives, too. You're not going to be able to discuss this with them until it is too late and you're not going to be able to resist doing what I need for you to do. I apologize for having to take away your free will and individuality in this matter, but quite literally the fate of the galaxy depends on my doing so._

With that, Janeway withdrew the tubes he shot into Jeremie. The boy collapsed back in the chair, exhausted. After a moment, he sat up straight and asked, "just what are you anyway, Dr. Janeway?"

"Why, I'm one of the aliens," he replied with a grin.

* * *

Three of the Borg drones returned to the lower levels of the factory, carrying an unconscious woman with them. The woman was carefully undressed, her clothes set off to the side, then she was strapped down onto a table. The rest of the drones joined their comrades surrounding their first native subject, and began scanning and probing her.

"Any invasive techniques must leave no external indications," XANA said to its slaves as they prepared to assimilate her, "anything out of the ordinary will be questioned. Proceed quickly, and do not kill this subject. We must return her to the school before her absence is noticed."

Slowly, the woman awoke. She shook her head to clear it, then screamed when she saw the creatures looming over her. One of them bent down in her face and smiled.

"Resistance is futile, Suzanne Hertz," it said to her, "you will be the vanguard of a new order; true order to replace the chaos that mankind has inflicted on itself. You will be the first human to join the great migration to absolute perfection. We will add your biological distinctiveness to our own, while we impart some of our distinctiveness to you; and together, we shall achieve perfection."

The creature then stood up straight, then clamped its hand on her forehead. Another of the aliens took a long wire like object and inserted it in her nostril. Mrs. Hertz screamed again and struggled as the creature pressed the thing in further while the other aliens held her still, finally passing out when the probe pierced her sinus and entered her brain.


	6. Nanoprobe Jeremie

**Disclaimer**: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners, particularly the characters taken from the animated series, Code Lyoko and the television series Star Trek. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.

* * *

Jeremie was glum as he left Dr. Janeway's office. Just before he disappeared, Janeway called out, "oh, and if you ever need to talk, about anything, give me a call. I'll adjust my schedule to accommodate you."

The blond haired genius mentally kicked himself for being caught so easily. _I knew there was something strange about him, but I didn't listen to myself! Now I'm going to betray my friends, and there's nothing I can do about it!_

Then he saw Aelita standing at the end of the hall, waiting for him. _Nooo!_ his mind screamed as he walked up to her and took her hand. He went to leave the building with her, but she didn't follow him. The feeling of his arm being pulled by her not walking stopped him.

"So, how did it go?" she asked, "was it as bad as you thought?"

"No," he replied, lying through his teeth, "it was like any other interview I've had with the head shrink types. I still don't know what about him sets me on edge though, so I'd watch myself around him if I were you."

"Well, okay," she replied, "but I still don't think he's all that bad."

_You would if you knew what I knew,_ Jeremie thought. He gave her hand a squeeze and said, "c'mon, let's get out of here."

As Jeremie and Aelita left the building, Jeremie inwardly fumed at himself. He had felt it when the nanoprobes exited out the palm of his hand and into hers. Janeway said that he couldn't resist doing what he had just done, but Jeremie was still ashamed for not trying harder.

* * *

After leaving Aelita, the blond genius shut the door of his dorm room and went over to his desk and sat down before his computer. He generally did this after classes ended in the afternoon, so whatever Dr. Janeway had done to him didn't seem to mind; although Aelita did. He logged on and connected to the supercomputer and started running some routine checks. He got so lost in his work, he was surprised when there was a knock at his door.

"Yeah, who is it?" he called out.

"Ulrich," came the reply as the brunette opened his door and walked in.

"Hey Jeremie, could you watch Kiwi for a while?" Ulrich started, "I'm, uhhhh, trying to study and he keeps bugging me to play."

"And leaving him here helps how?" Jeremie replied.

"I get to study," was the response, "you're not having a problem in Mrs. Hertz's class, so you can do without it. C'mon, do me this favor, please?"

"Oh, okay," Jeremie finally said. Ulrich left for a minute, then returned with Odd's furry little bit of contraband.

"I'll pick him up before curfew," Ulrich said, "or I'll make Odd come get him when he gets back. Thanks a lot for this Jeremie, my grades and I really appreciate it."

"No problem," Jeremie replied, patting Ulrich on the back, "uh, he doesn't need to go out or anything does he?"

"Nope, I snuck him out when I got back from class; that's what got him wound up."

"Oh, and if you need any help 'studying,' let me know, okay?"

"Sure, 'bye," Ulrich said as he went back to his room.

Before Ulrich disappeared, Jeremie remembered something. "Hey, Ulrich! Just where is Odd anyway?"

"He said he had to see Mrs. Hertz about his grades. Why else do you think I'm studying?"

Ulrich then went back in his room. Jeremie nodded to the boy and shut his door, then looked down at the little dog.

"More than likely, Ulrich's gonna sneak off to see Yumi," he told the dog, "well, that's two friends I've betrayed. And Ulrich will most likely infect Yumi when he sees her. That leaves just Odd, and I can get him through you, can't I, you little fur ball?"

Jeremie sat down on his bed, and Kiwi jumped up in his lap. Jeremie petted the dog and said stupid, cute little nothings to him, all the while releasing Janeway's nanoprobes into the dog's system. After a moment, Kiwi jumped down and Jeremie stood up.

"Well, I guess I'll go to the bench and survey the damage I've done."

* * *

Ulrich Stern ran down the street towards Yumi's house. He was a little ashamed of himself for lying to Jeremie the way he did, but he just had to see the Japanese girl. With one thing and another, they hadn't had a chance to talk in days, and he didn't want to take the chance that Jeremie would say no.

He arrived at Yumi's house, went up and rang the doorbell. Yumi's brother, Hiroki, answered it.

"Hi, Ulrich!" he said in greeting.

"Hi yourself," he replied, "is Yumi home?"

"Yeah, she's up in her room. I'll call her down." He then turned and yelled at the top of his lungs, "YUMI!!!!!! YOUR BOYFRIEND'S HERE!"

Ulrich was kind of surprised how such a big sound came out of such a small frame.

Yumi seemingly materialized at the bottom of the stairs, ready to pound her brother into paste; then saw who was at the door and walked up, blushing.

"Oh, hi, Ulrich," she said.

"So, you two gonna go smooch now?" Hiroki asked, teasing his sister.

"Hiroki, put a cork in it!," Yumi said to him, then said to Ulrich, "c'mon, let's sit on the porch.

When Yumi took Ulrich's arm to lead him out, the nanoprobes that Jeremie had infected Ulrich with entered Yumi's body. Both teens felt a slight tingle at the transfer.

When they were alone, Yumi said, "you're gonna think I'm crazy, but let's go back to the school. I have a sudden urge to see Jeremie and the others."

"Yeah, me too now that you say it," Ulrich replied.

With that, the couple set off back to school.

* * *

Jeremie and Aelita were sitting and chatting at their usual bench on campus when they saw Ulrich and Yumi walk up. Jeremie nodded his head. He called it correctly, Ulrich had gone to Yumi's. Any other time, he thought that it was cute. Now, he was saddened because he knew Yumi was now infected too. The couple walked up and sat down together next to Aelita.

"So, how's that studying coming along?" Jeremie said the couple. Ulrich just blushed and replied, "sorry 'bout that, Jer."

"Well, just the people I need to see," called out a voice. The group turned and saw that Dr. Janeway was walking up to them.

"And I see you've done a good job, Jeremie," he said with a smile, "but there's one missing, isn't there? Where's your friend Odd?"

"With Mrs. Hertz, I guess," Jeremie replied, "his dog, Kiwi is in my room; I infected him just in case I couldn't get to Odd directly."

"Jeremie, what are you talking about?" Aelita asked him.

"Jeremie did something I told him to do," Dr. Janeway replied, "don't be mad at him, he had absolutely no choice in the matter. Enough of you are here now for me to provide an explanation, so if you would come with me, I'll answer all of your questions that I can."

* * *

Odd Della Robbia walked into the science building with a troubled look on his face. After lunch, Mrs. Hertz had said she wanted to speak with him after school about his grades, so Odd was heading back to see what she wanted. Odd thought the request strange, but, then again, Mrs. Hertz did seem a little strange when he spoke to her, so it wasn't all that surprising.

Odd walked right into Mrs. Hertz's classroom, never noticing the man standing beside the door, out of Odd's direct vision. She was there, sitting at her desk, looking about the same as she always did, except maybe a little paler. As he walked up to her desk, he said, "I'm here for our meeting, Mrs. Hertz, like you asked."

"Good, Odd, sit down," she told him. He took a seat at the desk directly in front of hers.

After he sat, she said, "Odd, I need you to help me with something, something very important. I need you to help me with your friends, Ulrich, Jeremie, Aelita and Yumi. Something important is going to happen soon, and I need yours and their assistance in order to bring it about."

"Well, sure, I'll be glad to help if I can, what is it?" Odd replied.

He got his answer in part when a hand clamped down on the back of his neck, while another hand, holding a of rag soaked in something covered his mouth and nose.

"You're going to help me dismantle the supercomputer, Odd," Mrs. Hertz said, "then you and your friends are going to help me take over the world."


	7. Explanations

**Disclaimer**: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners, particularly the characters taken from the animated series, Code Lyoko and the television series Star Trek. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.

* * *

Jeremie, Aelita, Yumi and Ulrich followed Dr. Janeway to the Administration Building, where the psychologist had his office. When they got there, he directed them to a small conference room in the same part of the building as his office.

"Go in an sit down," the man said.

The kids entered and sat down. Once they were in the room, Dr. Janeway shut the door.

"Now that I have you here, let me begin by apologizing to you all," he began, "it is against my beliefs to do what I have done to you, and if the situation were less dire, I would have found another way. Each of you has been infected with artificial microorganisms, called nanoprobes. These are submolecular machines that can perform a variety of functions. One of the things they have done already is cause your friend Jeremie to see to it you all got infected."

At that, the others turned to Jeremie.

"Look guys, I had no choice," the boy quickly replied, "with Aelita, I couldn't stop myself. With Ulrich, it happened so naturally, I didn't think until it was too late. And Yumi got infected when she touched Ulrich or he touched her."

"Jeremie is correct, he couldn't stop himself, which is another sin I've committed," Dr. Janeway said, "I believe that it is wrong to forcibly remove another being's freedom of choice, unless there's a very good reason to do so. And even though there is in this case, I'm still sorry it had to be done. Now, on to the reason why it was necessary."

"The night after your last encounter with XANA, an alien vessel landed on the roof of the factory. The aliens had scanned this planet and discovered the supercomputer. These aliens, called the Borg, scour the galaxy looking for technology they can use, along with raw materials to consume. They are extremely interested in your supercomputer, because it is a quantum computer, plus it has the ability to generate what we call a chronometric wave. That's what happens when you do a 'Return To The Past.'"

"You told him about the supercomputer?" Yumi asked in an accusing tone.

"I didn't have any choice," Jeremie replied.

"He truly had no choice, Miss Ishiyama. Now, what has surprised me so far is that the Borg that landed here haven't shown themselves. Their usual procedure is to begin capturing natives and integrating them into their collective. By now, they should have assimilated enough people to openly show themselves, and begin a general takeover of the area. They'll hold it until help comes in the form of Harvester ships, massive ships specifically designed to conquer planets."

"What do these aliens look like?" Aelita asked, "so we can keep an eye out for them."

"Normally, they would be wearing what looks like bulky black exoskeletons, and there would be electronic devices sticking out of their flesh," Dr. Janeway replied, "but that doesn't necessarily have to be the case. Anyone could be assimilated, but all of the controlling mechanisms are inside their bodies."

"Great," Ulrich said, "we can't trust anyone except ourselves. Tell me, Dr. Janeway, just how do you know all of this?"

"Because, I myself am a Borg," he replied. The teens faces became a mask of shock at that. Everyone jumped up from their seats, ready to fight or flee when he added, "from around a thousand years in the future."

If the kids were shocked by Janeway's first statement, they were stunned by his second.

"Yes, I know; as long as we're telling fairy tales, let's add time travel to the mix," he said, "but you know already that time travel is possible, since you've done it quite a bit yourselves. So why is it so fantastic that someone from the future could travel all the way to the past?"

"It's not the capability that sounds far fetched," Jeremie said, "but your reason for doing so. You say you are a Borg, but yet you're here to stop your ancestors. I would think you would want to pitch in and help them."

"The Borg of my time and this time are vastly different, just as humans are different then from now. In my time, we no longer assimilate species against their will, nor do we rape planets like we used to do. In my time, your world had not been visited by the Borg at this time. My job is to see that events unfold as they are supposed to."

"Then aren't you interfering with history?" Aelita said.

"No. I have it on good authority that I am not."

"And whose authority is that?" the pink haired girl asked next.

"My own," was Janeway's reply, "suffice it to say that my being here will not change the course of history that I've come to expect; that is, if I succeed. I can't tell you what your futures will be because that information is not available to me. All I know is we have to get the Borg away from the supercomputer, and prevent them from calling for backup. I need your help to do that."

* * *

Odd slowly woke up with a splitting headache. He slowly opened his eyes and looked around. He was in the assembly room at the factory, strapped down on some kind of table. He looked around and saw other figures working and moving about, working at other tables that looked like they had people on them. As he was watching, some of the figures stepped back from a table and a person got up, a police officer. The cop then went and joined others at another table. One of the figures bustling about the room looked familiar. On closer examination, he recognized that person as Mrs. Hertz.

"Hey!" he shouted to the room, "Lemme go! What's going on here?!"

The figures turned to him as one, but only Mrs. Hertz walked over to him.

"Well, Mr. Della Robbia, you are finally awake," she told him, "I had thought for a moment that we used too much chloroform. I've been pondering just what to do with you ever since I brought you here."

"I vote for letting me go," Odd told her, "I mean, if this is about paying attention in class, I promise, I will in the future!".

She smiled and replied, "I don't think so, and your scholastic performance is the least of my worries. At the very least, we need you as bait to draw the others, particularly Jeremie Belpois, here to the supercomputer."

"What's a supercomputer?" Odd said.

"Don't play games with me, Cat Boy," she said with a trace of anger, "it wasn't all that long ago when I held your life in my hands. And if I decide I don't really need you to do what I need to do, believe me, I will do something a whole lot worse than drowning you."

Odd's eyes got wide as he realized what was going on, Mrs. Hertz was possessed by XANA! But the boy didn't see any indication of possession, no XANA symbols, nothing.

She smiled at his shock. "I knew if I beat you over the head with it, you'd eventually figure things out. Yes, XANA controls your science teacher, but this time with a twist. I am not possessing her directly, I'm possessing her through the others that are here, wonderful aliens that will show us the way to perfection! And not only that, you can't fix things by going back in time. These aliens and their technology are impervious to the effects of the time jump! So, if by some slim chance your friends get to the computer and launch a Return To The Past, nothing will change; Mrs. Hertz and anyone else assimilated will stay that way on the other end!"

"Now, as for you," the possessed Mrs. Hertz continued, "I am really torn. My slaves need additional workers to secure the area and prepare for their fellows arrival. Since we control the factory, we also control access to the supercomputer, so interference from Lyoko is impossible. I was initially going to have you lure your friends here, but their natural curiosity will bring them here soon anyway. And looking at you there makes me want to do something I've always wanted to do to you and your friends."

With that statement, three of the figures walked over and joined Mrs. Hertz. At the ends of their arms, were devices that looked very sharp and very painful.

"I think I'll go out and get my sweetie Jim instead," Mrs. Hertz said, "he's more brawn than brain anyway, so he can help with the heavy lifting around here. I think I'll let my friends experiment with you for a while, before they vivisect you. And one of the things they will be concentrating on is identifying how your pain receptors work, so they can suppress that mechanism when the time comes. I want you awake and alert so you can enjoy everything that I have in store for you."

Suzanne Hertz turned and left the helpless boy to the mercies of her companions. Before she even left the room, his screams rose up as the Borg began their examination.


	8. Reconnaissance

**Disclaimer**: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners, particularly the characters taken from the animated series, Code Lyoko and the television series Star Trek. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.

* * *

"One of the first things we need to do is reconnoiter the factory to see how entrenched they are," Janeway told the gang, "and I've got the perfect little spy."

Suddenly, a little window opened up before each teen's eyes, like a TV picture had just opened in their vision. In the window, it looked like something was laying on Jeremie's bed. It rose up just a little, then jumped to the floor. and then walked to the door. From the viewing window's perspective, the door looked huge as it loomed above the viewer.

"That's Kiwi, right?" Aelita asked.

"Correct," was Janeway's reply, "Kiwi is the perfect spy in this case. He's small and not on the Borg's assimilation list. Unless he does something that directly jeopardizes their mission, they will leave him alone. Now, all I've got to do is get him out of Jeremie's room."

Suddenly, sound was added to the visual display. Kiwi started barking and howling, raising quite a ruckus. After a moment, someone opened Jeremie's door.

"Jeremie! Will you keep that darn dog quiet!" shouted the person who surmounted Kiwi's impossible obstacle, Sissi Delmas, the principal's daughter. She stood in the doorway, fists on her hips as she shouted into the room. Kiwi responded by jumping up on her. She instinctively reached out and caught the little troublemaker, and he rewarded her by licking her face, infecting her with nanoprobes.

"I have soooo been wanting to do that to her," Janeway said.

"What, kiss Sissi?" Ulrich said with a smirk.

Janeway smiled in response and said, "no, assimilating her. You may not know it, but she's been sticking her cute little nose in my business since I got here. The only reason I hadn't done it before now and sent her after you was because I didn't think she would be able to succeed, given how obnoxious she is.'

"Yeah, that's Sissi alright," Ulrich agreed, "so what changed?"

"Just as I need someone to give the factory a look-see, I need someone to protect the staff here from assimilation, starting with Sissi's father. If the Borg get him, it will make it a lot simpler to round up and assimilate the whole school, plus give the Borg direct and open access to the school." Janeway now turned his attention to his newest recruit. "Sissi, I want you to sneak Kiwi outside and turn him loose. Then I want you to go to your father and infect him. After that, I want you to infect all of the adults on campus that you can. Only a brief touch is required, so don't worry. Additionally, you will be able to sense if anyone you meet has been assimilated by the other Borg. When you encounter one, avoid that person if at all possible. Report to me if there is trouble, or at the end of the day before you settle down. Understood?"

The gang heard Sissi's response of "got it, understood," as she took Kiwi and headed for the outdoors. The little window in their vision then disappeared.

"Was that telepathy?" Yumi asked.

"After a fashion," was Janeway's reply, "the nanoprobes are connected to me and therefore so are you all. Among other things, they allow me to communicate with them, and by extension, you. And, you can communicate with me through them. The only limitation I've placed on them is you can't at this time communicate with each other, and you can only send 'voice' information. Anything more would be making you into a collective Hive Mind, something I don't want to do. Now, we need to make our way towards the factory. We're not going inside, but we need to be close by in case Kiwi needs our help."

* * *

Sissi took Kiwi outside and set him down in the grass, leaving him with a little pat on his head. Kiwi watched the girl leave on her mission, then turned to his.

He ran off campus and into the woods. After a bit, he came out on the road that led to the river and the factory. He kept to the brush as he ran, to minimize the chance of being spotted. When he got to the bridge to the factory, he saw that there were two figures standing at the far end. The dog watched the figures for a while, until he realized that they weren't going to be moving any time soon. Looking about, Kiwi found a opening in the railing that separated the sidewalk from the bank of the river and jumped through it. He ran over to the bridge and under it, then running down to the edge of the bank and jumped in the water. He swam like mad, fighting the current, but was finally able to make it to the opposite shore and the factory.

Shaking the water from his coat, Kiwi looked up at the bridge and the two figures. They had not noticed the dog's crossing, and it looked like they hadn't moved at all. Kiwi turned and ran in the opposite direction, looking for another, smaller entrance inside.

In the mean time, the gang and Dr. Janeway had reached the edge of the forest.

"Kiwi's across, but there are guards at the main entrance," Janeway told the kids, "he's going to find another way in."

"How are we going to get in if we need to?" Jeremie asked the man.

"If we need to go inside, we'll have to go through the front door," Janeway replied, "believe me, if we have to go in now, stealth will be the least of our concerns."

* * *

Kiwi searched about and finally found a hole big enough for him to crawl in. He entered the building and emerged into an empty room. He padded to the door, then peered out. No one was coming from either direction, but he did hear sound coming from somewhere below, the sound of someone screaming his head off.

Kiwi turned in the direction of the sound and set off. He came to a balcony that showed the main level of the factory floor. Across the way, he could see the main entrance of the building, and the two figures that stood guarding it. The sounds were louder now, and coming from the main level. Kiwi hesitated for a moment, for his dog's mind had recognized the voice of his person. The dog wanted to rush to his person's side, but the voices inside were telling him to wait and prepare. The voices were too strong, so Kiwi heeded them and turned to a stairway and made his way upstairs.

The dog visited each floor and looked about for Borg activity. Most of the rooms were deserted, others had what looked like Borg technology in them, being constructed by what looked like little robots. Other rooms held what looked like junk, but the dog was told by the voices it was food for the Borg's use. After finishing his examination of the area, Kiwi went back to the stairs and continued up.

Kiwi repeated this on each floor, until he got to the roof. He was able to force himself through one of the doors and stepped outside. Carefully, the dog searched about for the Borg ship. At one point, Kiwi stopped and ducked back around a corner. He carefully peered back around, and suddenly his vision changed. Something caused his eyes to begin to register other parts of the spectrum, until he finally saw the large cube shape hovering millimeters above the roof. Kiwi settle himself down for a long wait as other things formed in him, on him and around him to better observe the ship.

* * *

"The good news is, Kiwi found the ship," Janeway told the gang, "the bad news is they have captured Odd and are doing something to him. It's very strange."

"What?" Jeremie asked.

"You're not going to like what I have to say, but it sounded like Odd was being tortured," Janeway said, "it's strange because even in this time, Borg did not torture for torture's sake. Aspects of assimilation are painful to the victim in this time, but the first thing the Borg would normally do is take control of the person's mind, so the rest of the process can go more smoothly. It looks like they haven't done that to Odd, at least not yet."

"Uh, you said the Borg are after technology, right?" Jeremie asked.

"Yes, why?"

"That includes computer technology?"

"Particularly computer technology; why Jeremie?"

"Maybe, the Borg have been possessed by XANA."

"How could that be, isn't XANA confined to the supercomputer?"

"No," was the genius' reply, "XANA escaped at the beginning of the summer. He's been living out in the Internet, coming back to Lyoko to try and destroy it. In its last attack, it took over some sea-to-ground missiles and tried destroying the school and the factory with them."

Janeway was silent for a moment, then he spoke.

"My mother told me that skimming over things would be my downfall. XANA possessing them would explain a lot of things. I'm going to have to rethink my plans to take this new wrinkle into account. And we're going to have to get Odd out of there while we can."

* * *

A while after the female had left, one of the drones queried the Arbiter, _how much longer do we have to continue this charade?_

_We don't,_ was the reply, _the program is more interested in playing with these beings than interfacing with the computer. We have gathered enough information to assimilate it and take over its hardware. For now, string the program along while you revert to normal pacification protocols. Begin with the male she just brought in, there is no need to prolong its suffering. We will deal with the program when the female returns._


	9. A Plan

**Disclaimer**: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners, particularly the characters taken from the animated series, Code Lyoko and the television series Star Trek. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.

* * *

Sissi walked into the principal's office and asked his secretary if he had a moment. Nicole replied that he was in conference with Jim, so she would have to wait. Sissi smiled, then walked right in; believing that her relationship with the principal precluded such petty things as waiting until he was done.

When she opened the door, she saw her father sitting at his desk, talking with Jim, who was sitting in the chair in front. Sissi was surprised, however, to see Mrs. Hertz sitting next to him in the other visitor's chair.

"Sissi, what is the meaning of this! You can't just barge in here like this, daughter or no!" Jean-Pierre shouted.

"Oh, daddy! I just wanted to see how you were doing today and to tell you that I love you," she smoothly replied, walking up and around his desk. She then threw her arms around him and gave him a big, long kiss on his cheek, long enough for the nanoprobes she carried to transfer into him.

"Elizabeth, I love you too," he replied with a blush at the public display of affection, "but still, you shouldn't come walking in here like you own the place. Despite what you may think, that is not the case. Now please, wait outside until I'm done, then I'll spend as much time with you as you want."

"Well, now I'm curious," Sissi said, "what's going on? I don't see any school papers sitting out, so what's the deal?"

"E-Liz-A-Beth, that's none of your..."

"It's alright, Jean-Pierre," Jim suddenly said, "I don't mind if she knows, it'll get out soon enough. If you really want to know, Sissi, Suzanne and I are getting married in the spring, and we want to have the ceremony here at the school."

"That's great!" Sissi squealed in delight. She ran around the desk and grabbed Jim in a big hug, one that infected him too. She then let go, and before her nanoprobes could warn her otherwise, gave Mrs. Hertz a big hug and infected her. When she let go, the warnings that they were sending out finally registered in her brain, the science teacher had been assimilated by the other Borg.

"Thank you for the exuberant congratulations," Suzanne replied, "but, please, respect our wishes for now and don't let it get out."

"Oh, okay," she replied sullenly. This would be the gossip of the year, two teachers getting married!

"Now that you have pried into other people's business, will you please wait for me outside?" her father finally said, "and don't run off this time, we need to have a little talk about your manners, young lady."

"Yes, sir," she said as she withdrew from the room. When she got outside of his office, she suddenly squealed and ran around Nicole's desk and gave her a big hug, infecting her.

"Did'ja hear! Jim and Mrs. Hertz are getting married!"

When she let go, Sissi ran out of the office, her primary mission complete. Nicole sat at her desk, stunned. She could almost hear the principal's groan of defeat through the plaster walls.

Sissi ran down the hall to the first place she could think of for privacy, the women's bathroom. She ducked inside, found an empty stall, went in and sat down, fighting the automatic urge to drop her pants before using the facilities. Once settled as best she could, she began to concentrate.

_Uh, whoever's out there? I've got news, _she thought.

_What is it, Sissi, _came the response, _and for your information, 'whoever' is Dr. Janeway, the school psychologist. And your father is correct, you shouldn't just barge in on him like that._

_Well, if you know that, you know the rest of it,_ she replied, _Mrs. Hertz is one of the bad aliens. And I gave her those nano-thingies along with daddy, Jim and daddy's secretary._

_Hmm,_ he replied after a moment's silence, _that may not necessarily be a bad thing. I'm actually in contact with them now, so I might be able to use them to tap into their communications network. Good job, Sissi. Now, I want you to get out of there and go back to your father's office. You know he has a few choice words about your behavior, and I agree with him. Despite what you did, you were very disrespectful towards him and that needs to stop. Now, run along._

Sissi stood up in the stall, and barely stopped herself before flushing. She walked out of the bathroom and back to her father's office. Dr. Janeway was right, she was being rude and disrespectful to her father, and that's not the way she really felt towards him. She entered the office and sat down quietly, waiting for the principal to finish.

Across the campus, Juan Janeway smiled to himself as he and Jeremie and his gang were walking back into the woods, towards his ship.

_Well, she _can _be taught,_ he thought to himself.

* * *

Jeremie and the others recognized this part of the woods. In the past, each of them had come to this little lake, either alone or with one of the others. As a matter of fact, a lot of the students had come here at one time or another, either to be alone with their thoughts or alone with their sweethearts.

"What are we doing here?" Yumi asked, "I sure don't think this is the time for a make-out session, and you don't have a date."

Dr. Janeway snickered. "For you, this is the hot spot for a little love-on-the-sly; for me it's home."

With that, the entire group disappeared.

They found themselves in a large dark room, pitch black, as a matter of fact. Then, small lights began to come on, then grow brighter. After a moment, the area was lit well enough so the kid could look around.

They were what looked for a second like a cave or some cavern somewhere; except when you looked at the walls, they were perfectly machined. They were standing close to one of the corners of the space, and that corner was sharply defined. Out in the interior of the space, was what looked like a cube, made up of open conduits, wires, girders and the like. It looked like a building with no walls, and all of the plumbing and stuff hanging out.

"Sorry 'bout the mess," Dr. Janeway said, "I really wasn't expecting company."

"How did we get here?" Aelita asked, "I don't remember going through any door."

"Matter transmission," was the reply, "teleportation. Your bodies were broken down at the submolecular level and reassembled here."

"Oh, like the scanners," Ulrich added, "so, ahh, nice place you got here, Dr. Janeway, but why are we here?"

"I need to make some kind of plan of attack," the psychologist replied, "and I don't want to do it on the fly and on the run. I also wanted to check on progress here, because I want to make sure I've got support facilities ready in case of trouble. I originally wasn't going to need as much equipment and space as I'm creating now, and I'm not going to proceed unless I've got enough to fall back on if things fall apart."

With that, Janeway turned and walked towards the cube. Not knowing what else to do, the gang followed him. When they got to the edge of the cube, they saw that the insides weren't exposed to the outside like it looked, there was a shimmer just in front of the workings, almost like heat waves. As Janeway approached, the shimmer stopped in front of him, and he walked on inside.

"Come on in, there's no need to worry," he called to them, "just don't touch anything."

The kids followed him into the cube, careful not to trip on any of the exposed pipes or wires. The inside looked like the set of some strange science fiction movie, with displays showing unusual pictures, little if no discernible lettering or words. There was a clear path into the center of the cube, more like a catwalk than a hallway, with branches leading off in different directions. Dr. Janeway made his way straight to the center of his ship, while the rest followed him.

The emerged into a room, of sorts. There were no walls, just a large open space where they could walk about. Around the edges of the room were what looked like alcoves, big enough for an adult to stand upright in. Janeway walked over to one and stepped up and in.

"Sorry about the accommodations," he said as he rested his right arm on an armrest in the alcove, "as you can see, I don't often entertain guests in my home. Try and make yourselves comfortable for a bit while I check up on things. If you need anything, just speak up."

With that, Dr. Janeway closed his eyes. As he stood there, he began to change. His skin turned pale and grey. Metal devices started sprouting out of exposed areas of his skin. Wires and cables snaked out of the alcove and attached themselves to the metal pieces, then displays around him flickered on and started displaying things.

"What about something to eat," Aelita said. The moment she finished her sentence, a plate of sandwiches appeared before the group, along with drinks. This woke everybody's stomachs up, and they dived in.

After eating their fill, involving two additional plates of sandwiches appearing, the gang settled down to wait. Yumi and Ulrich went over to two of the open alcoves, sat down and began talking quietly. Aelita curled up on the floor and napped. Jeremie just started walking around the room, looking at the various displays and devices.

The genius stopped in front of a pedestal which seemed to be projecting a holographic map of something. On the sides of the pedestal were what looked like controls. Curiosity won out over common sense, and the boy reached out to touch one of the controls.

Just before his finger touched the panel, the controls disappeared, replaced by a message in blood red letters: _I said, don't touch anything!_

"Sorry," he said to the room.

_If you want to know what something is, just ask,_ came Dr. Janeway's voice in his mind, _what you're looking at is a copy of the Borg Collective._

_What?_ Jeremie asked.

_The Borg Collective, _was the reply, _this is a copy of every mind in the Hive Mind, downloaded and available to me with information and experience on just about everything the Borg have encountered since the beginning._

_Why would you need that?_ Jeremie asked next.

_Wouldn't you like to have the greatest minds in the world at your fingertips, ready willing and able to engage you in conversation, brainstorming, or out and out arguing in order to figure something out?_ Janeway said, _I have here everyone I know in the Collective, everyone I care about. In some cases, they can even act on my behalf, as long as it's within the parameters of my mission here. And they have one other purpose, one that I'm eternally grateful for._

_What?_

_Their song keeps me company and lets me know I am loved and not alone in this alien world._

With that, Dr. Janeway opened his eyes, and the connections to his body withdrew, and the metal devices disappeared back inside of him. Jeremie quickly walked back over to Aelita and woke her up.

"Well, I've got a better idea of what we need to do now," he told the group, "it seems that XANA has possessed these Borg, but it may not be that way for long. They have been assimilating individuals according to their normal protocols, and have enough equipment set up to begin a general assimilation of the area. If I'm understanding what I've been reading correctly, the Arbiter has been stringing XANA along, letting the program think it was in control, in the hopes of XANA accessing the supercomputer. Once XANA did that, they'll take back control and the invasion will begin. The upshot is, boys and girls, that we have maybe an hour to disrupt things and get your friend Odd out of there before I have to stop playing nice and get down to business."


	10. Initial Assault

**Disclaimer**: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners, particularly the characters taken from the animated series, Code Lyoko and the television series Star Trek. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.

* * *

It was an easy thing to lure Jim to the factory, the XANA-possessed Suzanne thought to herself; just bat her eyes and smile a little coy smile, cock her head and her hips a certain way, and he was a mind-numbed robot. He positively _drooled_ the entire trip over!

He never even thought twice about the two drones that met them at the entrance, at least not until they grabbed him and took him away to be assimilated. XANA smiled though the woman's lips. She turned and followed them, wanting to see how Odd Della Robbia was faring.

When she got down to the assembly room, the two drones had stunned Jim and placed him on a table, and were beginning the assimilation process. She walked over to the table where Odd was and looked down.

Odd was not writhing in the agony that it had wanted. The Borg had proceeded with the assimilation process. Not only that, they had not limited themselves to internal modifications only.

The blond haired nuisance was now bald. Where his left eye once was, there was now a camera like device that stuck out about four inches from his face. His forearms were gone, replaced with devices like the assimilator drones wore. They had fitted him with a diaper like device that extracted and recycled waste products. Now, they were fitting him with a bio-support suit like they wore, which would protect the biological components against almost any environment, even the vacuum of space.

"What is the meaning of this!" Suzanne/XANA shouted at the room, "this violates all of the orders I have given you! Stop..."

XANA was silenced as its access to Mrs. Hertz was yanked away.

_I have allowed this charade to proceed until now,_ came one of the aliens, the Arbiter, _you are needlessly inhibiting the progress of our Harvest, and I will not allow it to continue._

_I am the Master here, _XANA roared back over the interlink, _I decide what continues and what doesn't! Stop what you are doing and start ripping these devices from his body! I want his pain and suffering!_

_Suffering is irrelevant, pain is irrelevant,_ came the alien again, _and your desires are irrelevant._

Suddenly, XANA felt itself being probed, invaded. It tried to fight back, but couldn't. One of the things the Borg had been doing while XANA was playing its little games was studying the program, learning how it worked. Now, with that knowledge, they were inserting access points into XANA's code to provide them with total control.

_You will provide us access to the quantum computer located three levels below this room,_ the voice said, _you will enable us to utilize that technology, to add its diversity to our own. You are no longer an independent agent with a useless purpose. You are once again what you always were, a simple tool._

The last modification settled itself in place, and XANA was assimilated. It couldn't even scream in frustration or despair, for that was no longer part of its function.

* * *

"Damn," Dr. Janeway said out loud, "we didn't even get an hour. XANA's been isolated and assimilated, now the Borg have access to that computer."

"What now?" Jeremie asked.

"We're just going to have to proceed as planned," the man replied, "it may just get messier. First off, we need to disrupt their interlink. Next, we need to isolate the aliens themselves. Once we sever them from their link with each other, the battle will be over."

"What do we do," Ulrich asked.

"Prepare," was the reply.

When Janeway said that, the kids started feeling things crawl under their skins. After a moment, small devices started sprouting on various parts of their bodies, particularly the backs of their hands, between and behind their knuckles.

"What I'm doing is giving you limited offensive weaponry as well as comprehensive defensive technology," he said, "the ports on your hands will emit both energy bursts and solid projectiles, composed of nanoprobes. I've locked in a programmed burst of five energy bursts, followed by a projectile burst. All you have to do in order to fire is point and think 'fire.' The other devices on your body are emitters for a multiphasic deflector screen. Sensor clusters in the emitters sense incoming attacks and adjust the shield's frequency to deflect it. They will deflect any matter short of neutronium moving at the speed of light, or a ten-million terawatt energy blast. The only limitation is that the attack must come from at least a three meter distance. If one of the drones gets up close, the automatic defenses are useless and you would have to activate them manually, which could get tricky in a fight. One last thing, I'm opening up your interlinks so you may have 'voice' communications with each other. Be sparing in its use, because its ease is very seductive. Now, I'll just contact our little spy inside, and we'll get this party started."

Kiwi had been laying in his hiding place, watching the Borg ship. Stealthed sensor arrays were tracking just about every emanation coming from the ship: solid, liquid, gaseous and electromagnetic. The only activity that had occurred since the dog settled in was a figure emerged from the ship and went into the factory.

Suddenly, The Man spoke to Kiwi, telling him it was time to go and rescue his person. Kiwi got up and ran back to the door he had used to get on to the roof. When he left, all of the sensors that had been monitoring the ship melted into nothingness. As Kiwi ran, the metal protrusions that were present on him melted back inside, replaced by others. The Man said it was Protection from the Bad Ones.

The little dog ran down the stairs, then carefully entered the top floor of the factory. It walked cautiously, coming quickly to one of the rooms filled with equipment. Kiwi entered and started looking around. It saw something, and The Others told Kiwi to look closer. The Others weren't really people per se, but The Man said that they were friends and to listen to them.

Kiwi padded up to the object The Others had indicated. They then told Kiwi to urinate on it. Kiwi turned, raised his leg, and let loose. He had been wanting to relieve himself for some time now, and it felt good that he was finally able to. Now, if only he could drop his _other_ load...

What Kiwi didn't know was that his urine was teeming with nanoprobes tasked with the mission to disrupt and destroy the equipment they were deposited on.

Relieved, Kiwi turned and left the room. Now the Bad Ones would know that Kiwi owned this spot and not them, and that they should stay away.

Kiwi went to other rooms full of equipment and repeated his marking. Each time, nanoprobes infected and attacked the equipment they were deposited on. When the dog finished one floor, he descended down to the next lower one, and repeated his activity.

_Good Boy,_ The Man and The Others said to Kiwi as he worked, _good dog. Soon your person will be freed and you can come home._

* * *

Janeway completed the final preparations for the assault. Kiwi was busy disrupting the interlink nodes between the assimilated humans. With that in motion, he prepared himself. Metal pieces, then actual devices, spouted on his exposed skin. Other devices actually materialized out of thin air and attached themselves to him. His clothes started changing into a black one piece suit. The color of is skin paled to gray, his hair vanished, and a large metal band like thing formed around his ears, extending back around his head, then forward, covering and replacing his right eye.

_Prepare for transport,_ he told them,_ you will be beamed directly into the assembly area. Do no terminal damage to any assimilated humans there. There will be a short interval when the other Borg will still have control, but that will cease. Jim and Suzanne in particular will connect with us as the nanoprobes in them remove the older technology. I will transport to the roof of the factory and take control of the other ship. Transport will begin... now._


	11. The Assault On The Factory

**Disclaimer**: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners, particularly the characters taken from the animated series, Code Lyoko and the television series Star Trek. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.

* * *

Suzanne Hertz was standing at the table, watching Jim be assimilated. She watched as one of the other drones took the probe containing the control and interlink module in its tip, and prepared to insert it into his nostril, heading for his brain. The woman trapped behind the wall that the Borg had confined her behind screamed in frustration and rage, N_o! Spare Him!_

Suddenly a new thought entered her mind, music. It was the sound of a cavalry charge from an old American Western. Intermixed with it came a voice that told her, _help is coming, so be ready to move!_

Just as the probe was about to enter Jim's nose, something blocked it, some kind of energy barrier. The drone holding the probe was confused, so it tried again, and was blocked again. Suddenly, there was a sharp pain in her head, and the wall that had confined Suzanne was ripped away. She had control of herself again!

She grabbed the arm holding the probe and yanked it away from Jim. Though she didn't realize it, the moment she touched the arm of the drone, nanoprobes invaded it and began disrupting its control systems. It easily broke free of Suzanne's grip, but staggered back and away from the table as the nanoprobes began their work.

She quickly undid the restraints holding Jim down. As she did, his eyes snapped open, and he raised his head up.

"Suzie, what's going on?" he said confused, "I mean, I know you wanted to come to this factory, but I never realized..."

"Jim, be quiet!" she snapped, "I wasn't in control of myself before. Something's going on and we need to get out of here, right now!"

She helped him stand up, then turned around to see every other person in the room advancing on them, including Odd Della Robbia.

"Odd! What is the meaning of this!" Suzanne shouted in her sternest Science Teacher Voice.

He responded by raising his right arm. The devices that had replaced his forearms and hands suddenly sprouted very sharp looking claws, each about 30 centimeters in length.

"If you will not be assimilated, then you will be destroyed," everyone in the room said to the couple.

* * *

When Janeway said 'now,' Jeremie, Ulrich, Aelita and Yumi all vanished, along with Dr. Janeway. When they reappeared, the kids were standing in the assembly room of the factory. It was an assembly room alright, but not the one they had seen in the past. 

The conveyor belt was gone, replaced by tables where people were strapped down, in various stages of assimilation. The floor around the tables was red with blood from past procedures. In one corner, there was a dumpster full of what looked like body parts, unnecessary tissue that would be recycled and reused.

At the other end of the room, Mrs. Hertz and Jim Moralés were standing, surrounded by all of the other assimilated people in the room, one of which was Odd. They were closing in on the couple, and the gang heard what the Borg had told their victims.

This wasn't Lyoko. This wasn't a game. No one would be devirtualized and spill out of a scanner when their Life Points dropped to zero. If anyone was hurt, it would be for real and for live. If someone died, it truly was Game Over.

The four Lyoko Warriors raised their arms as one, each selecting a different area of the room to fire upon. They spoke with one voice, with one resolve.

"Fire!"

Energy bursts erupted from their hands, followed by nanoprobe shot. Every drone in the room was hit by the bursts, except for Odd. Two of the energy bursts had clipped him, but his Lyoko trained instincts kicked in and he rolled away from the other blasts.

When the fire erupted, Jim and Suzanne hit the floor. The other drones dropped or scattered, then turned, deployed weapons of their own, and returned fire.

The return fire came in the form of high powered laser beams, hot enough to burn through feet of steel. When one of the beams would touch one of the gang, a shield instantly sprang into existence and disbursed the energy. Aelita had been caught in a crossfire of three drones, but their beams just dissipated harmlessly against her shields. She responded with remarkable calm, sighting each target, then returning fire and hitting each one.

Yumi broke left and started after the drones on that side of the room. Jeremie ran up to Jim and Suzanne to cover them. Ulrich went after his friend, Odd.

"Well, Jim, you're going to have quite a tale to tell, I see," Jeremie said.

It wasn't until then that Jim realized that he was naked.

"Explanations will have to wait until we're out of here alive," Suzanne quickly said. She then darted out and grabbed Jim's pants, then ducked back and gave them to him.

"But the last thing I need at this moment is a distraction," she added. He smiled and nodded as he put the pants on.

Meanwhile, Ulrich was chasing Odd around the room, trying to hit him. It seemed like at the very last instant, Odd would just duck out of the way of his shots. And what was worse, the other surviving drones were beginning to pick up on Odd's abilities, and copying his moves.

"Odd, stay still! We're trying to save you!" he hollered at his friend.

"I'm already saved," Odd replied, "and my Salvation and Immortality are infinitely more concrete than anything you can offer."

_Dr. Janeway, we've got trouble!_ Jeremie sent, _Somehow, Odd is avoiding our attacks, and the others are catching on!_

_It's the training and experience he has from Lyoko, Jeremie, _came the reply, _and since the interlink is still up and running, the others can access his skills. Just hold out a little longer; their link is just about compromised._

Yumi and Aelita were now in dire straights. All of the other drones were concentrating their fire on the two girls, forcing them under cover. Jeremie was pinned under the table with Jim and Suzanne, and Ulrich was fighting Odd.

* * *

When Janeway materialized on the roof, he made his way into the Borg ship. He quickly found the drone alcoves and interfaced himself in. Immediately, his nanoprobes went out and started overriding all of the command protocols the ship contained, using the Queen's Command Override Protocol from this era. The ship quickly came under Janeway's control, and he added his own Stand Down Command to the disruption being caused by the nanoprobes Kiwi had deposited. 

Down on the assembly room floor, every drone in the room stopped. Ulrich and Odd were in close quarters combat at that point, Ulrich desperately trying to dodge the claws that Odd kept swiping him with. When the other drones stopped, it startled Ulrich for an instant, just long enough for Odd to complete the final commands given to him.

Ulrich's abdomen erupted in fire as Odd's claws raked across him deeply, sending blood and viscera spraying out. Odd let the momentum of his blow carry him in a complete circle. When he came back around, he changed the direction of his next blow into a vicious uppercut that caught Ulrich again in his gut. But this time, the talons raked upwards, shredding his stomach and shattering his ribs, his lungs, his heart. The path of the claws ripped up his throat, finally exiting out under his jaw and chin.

It had only taken a fraction of a second; Odd finally received the Stand Down order and stood back, his eyes wide as he suddenly got back control of himself. He stood there in shock and horror at what he had just done, what he had been _made_ to do to his best friend in the world.

Ulrich stood there a moment, his mind overwhelmed by the pain his body was attempting to process. Blood and guts poured out of his wounds, making sick wet sounds as they hit the factory floor. Finally, nearly drained, Ulrich fell backwards.

Across the room, Yumi had seen the final blows and what had happened to Ulrich. She jumped up, heedless of any danger that may still lurk, and stared unbelieving at him. The agony of his passing hit her, hit them all, really, along with his final words, _forgive him._


	12. The Love Of Trillions

**Disclaimer**: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners, particularly the characters taken from the animated series, Code Lyoko and the television series Star Trek. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.

* * *

"ULRICH!!!!!!!!!!!"

Yumi's scream filled the entire factory, as well as the interlink between the gang. Both sound and thought carried the emotional subtext of her true feelings. Shock, pain, fear, regret, love. All of these things rode on the single word she sent out. Shock that anything could touch him, the shared pain of his wounds, mixed with the pain of his parting, fear that she would never, ever see him again. And regret that she never told him how she felt, never told him that she loved him.

She ran over to him, quickly kneeling down in his blood and gore. She put her arms around him and pulled him close, crying out her pain and her grief and her loss and her longing. He was Gone. She Had Lost Him. For Ever.

_Not quite,_ came a gentle voice, Janeway's, _the Borg have a slightly different take on the Finality of Death. You can save him, Yumi. You can be his Life Support until we can repair the damage inflicted. It will be dangerous, however. You will be in the most danger you have ever faced in all of this._

_Whatever danger, whatever price, I will pay it,_ she replied, _even if it means my life. Even if it means my soul._

_Very well, then,_ he replied. Then his voice changed. His one voice was joined by a chorus of trillions. They sang out as one, overwhelming her, _we will add your biological diversity, and his, to our own for a time, and together we shall make him whole again._

It was like a door suddenly opened in Yumi's mind, and she _was _Ulrich. Most of his bodily functions had shut down, due to the damage inflicted. His mind, his soul was cocooned behind a wall of numbness, in preparation for its release.

She didn't even think; prompted by the song resonating within her, she laid him back down, stripped off her shirt, then her bra, then climbed on top of him and embraced him with her entire body. She then kissed him with all of the passion and power and will and love in her, sending him one thought, one plea:

_Don't leave me, Ulrich!_

* * *

He was floating in Nothingness. The Pain was Gone. Life was Gone. Everything was Gone. There was only the Waiting, Waiting for The Light.

As He floated there in the Nothingness, He thought back on his Life. It was short, much too short, but all in all, there was only one thing he truly regretted. He would Always and Eternally Regret that He never Told Her How He Felt. That Regret would make Heaven all the more bitter for Him, or it would make Hell all the worse.

Finally, The Light appeared. It began as a small speck, like someone had poked a hole in a black screen, letting the light behind it on in. Then it began to grow like the lights of an oncoming train. It felt like He was moving, but He wasn't sure. All He had to do now was just Let The Light Take Him...

_Don't leave me, Ulrich!_

That plea came from nowhere, from everywhere. He Knew Who It Was. _She_ was calling out to Him. _She_ was begging him to Stay. But it was too late. The Bonds That Held Him Here had been Severed, and could not be Rejoined. As much as He Wanted to Stay, He Could Not.

The plea came again, stronger this time.

_Don't leave us, Ulrich! We can save you! Don't Go, Ulrich! We Love You!_

This time, it wasn't just Her, it was all of His Friends. Somehow, they had found a way to get to Him, to try and pull Him back. He so much wanted to return, to join them again, but the Bonds That Held Him Here had been Severed, and could not be Rejoined. As much as He Wanted to Stay, He Could Not.

They called out to him again, but this time, it was different.

_DON'T LEAVE US, ULRICH! WE LOVE YOU! WE WILL SAVE YOU! WAIT! HOLD ON! WE ARE COMING!_

This was not five or six voices whispering in the whirlwind; it was the sound of trillions, shouting with one voice, one purpose. The Borg from Janeway's time, _all of them,_ were calling out to Him, Willing Him to Stay. Trillions of beings he had never seen, and could not even imagine, poured their Love into Him, telling Him that They Needed Him, that They Wanted Him, that They Loved Him. For Ever.

Slowly, Ulrich Stern turned away from The Light. It was hard, and it took a lot of effort, but He finally turned away. It would always be there, waiting for his return, for He would return, some day. He turned away from the Light of Eternity, and Embraced the Love of Trillions.

* * *

Yumi cried her plea down the interlink to Ulrich. Something seemed to stir within him, but nothing happened. She mentally called out to the others to help her, and they did, adding their own voices to her plea. He definitely heard them this time, but still did nothing, still slid further and further away from her.

Suddenly, the interlink between them flew wide open. Yumi and the others were overwhelmed by the sheer number of new minds that joined them. Trillions of voices rang out, calling to one of their own:

_DON'T LEAVE US, ULRICH! WE LOVE YOU! WE WILL SAVE YOU! WAIT! HOLD ON! WE ARE COMING!_

This caught Ulrich's attention, and he stirred. Slowly he came back from the near death he had been in. Slowly, he fought the urge to relax and let it end. Slowly, he clawed his way back to Them, to Her.

Rejoicing at her success, Yumi pressed herself closer against his body, heedless of the slimy sensations of his intestines against her bare stomach. Nanoprobes began pouring out through her skin and into his gaping wounds, joining up with the nanoprobes he already had. They quickly began working to repair on the damage done to him. To get his biological systems up and running again, openings began forming in Yumi's chest and abdomen. Then, tubes began to form between her circulatory system and his. When they connected, blood was released into them, and into him, rich in even more nanoprobes, as well as nutrients. In her body, her bone marrow began pouring out new blood cells; nanoprobes began pulling nutrients from wherever they could be found in the area to fuel the production. Other connections began to be made between their renal systems, their lymphatic systems, their nervous systems. Her breasts and the front of her rib cage dissolved, and their lungs merged together, so he could breathe. The nanoprobes reached his heart and began rebuilding it. Quickly, enough of a structure had been formed to close the circulatory system and start beating again, now in synchronization with her heart, just millimeters away now. Their intestines joined together so she could help to process the waste his body needed to expel.

All the while, nanoprobes were working with the couples own immune systems to eject the contamination that had gotten in when Ulrich was eviscerated. Large particles were pushed out of his body, working their way through his tissue and falling onto the floor. Smaller germs and bacteria were enveloped and broken down into simple proteins for reuse.

Both Yumi and Ulrich's remaining clothes began to dissolve, replaced by a Borg bio-support suit that enveloped them both. A collar quickly formed around Ulrich's throat, closing the wound there. All this time, Yumi never broke her embrace, not even when a device began to form around both of their heads, then faces. She only released her kiss when the device gently pried her lips from his, forming itself around them both.

_It's going to take a lot of energy and resources to put him back together,_ came Dr. Janeway's voice, _Yumi, you will have to stay connected to him for a little while, so a gestation chamber can be prepared for him. That containment suit that's forming around you is impervious to anything within 500,000 miles, so you won't have to worry about the other Borg getting at you. But here comes the dangerous part I warned you about. Until you can be separated, you and Ulrich are going to be closer and more intimate than any kind of sexual activity either of you can think of. Right now, you two are literally one person, both in Body and Mind. When the separation finally comes, and it will come, it will be like someone has ripped your soul in two. This is what I've been trying to avoid all along, the creation of a Hive Mind, no matter how small. You both have to prepare yourselves for it, because if you don't, you could die of separation anxiety and absolute loneliness._


	13. The Forgiveness Of Sinners

**Disclaimer**: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners, particularly the characters taken from the animated series, Code Lyoko and the television series Star Trek. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.

* * *

Jeremie, Aelita, Odd, Jim and Suzanne watched as the bio-support suit enclosed their two remaining comrades. Once the unit sealed itself, it vanished in a cloud of green light.

_I've beamed them back to my ship,_ Dr. Janeway explained through the interlink, _I've got a gestation chamber set up and waiting for them. It will take a few hours to patch up Ulrich enough so I can detach Yumi, and then a few hours beyond that to complete the reconstruction._

"And what about the others," Jeremie said out loud, "what about Odd?"

Another cloud of green light suddenly appeared, and Janeway was suddenly standing in the midst of them.

"That's a little more problematic," he said, "oh, the procedure itself is simple, but it's going to take more resources than I've got to reverse these modifications right away. And I've got a time crunch here. Whatever I do, I have to get done as soon as possible, so these people can get back to their normal lives."

"Yeah, when are you going to do this?" one of the former drones asked, "I've got to be back at the precinct at six for shift change, and my captain is going to have a fit when he sees me. I'm surprised he hasn't sent someone out looking for me by now."

"He did. Us," said another drone, indicating himself and pointing at his companions, "I'll bet that old gasbag is thinking we've ditched patrol and gone off drinking!"

"Do you think you can buy me a little time by calling in and telling your captain that you're okay?" Janeway asked the officers.

"I can do that, but he'll probably tear me a new asshole," the first officer said. With that, the man looked about for his radio. "Well, I can't do squat if I can't find my two-way."

Janeway looked at the man for a second. He nodded then started speaking into the air.

"That'll do for starters," he said, "I gave him instructions on how to interface with the police band using the equipment here. I also told him to report an unusual activity going on in the factory and to cordon off the area. Hopefully, that will buy me some of the time I need to figure things out."

While Janeway and the policemen were talking, Odd was staring at the spot where Ulrich had lain. His remaining eye was wide open, and his mouth agape as his mind replayed the horror of his last seconds of possession.

Jeremie noticed Odd's behavior. "Odd, are you alright?" he asked his friend. Odd didn't reply. Jeremie started to walk over to him, to tell him that everything was going to be okay, but as soon as he took a step towards him, Odd recoiled and jumped back.

"St-stay away from me!" he shouted.

"Odd, it's okay," Aelita said, startling the boy.

"Leave me alone!" he screamed at the room. He turned and bolted from them, heading for the stairwell.

Jeremie and Aelita turned to follow him when a voice stopped them.

"No, leave him be, I'll go after him," said Suzanne Hertz, "I'm probably the only person in the room that truly knows what he's going through."

With that, she gave Jim's hand a quick squeeze, then ran after Odd.

"She's not the only one," Jeremie said to her receding form.

"Technically, you're right," Dr. Janeway said, "but I think I know where she's coming from, and I agree with her. Anyway, I've got another assignment for you. I need you to go down to the supercomputer and make sure they haven't done anything to it. Aelita, would you take two police officers with you and try to find the Borg drones? I need to know whether they're still in the building or have escaped somehow. It's bothering me to no end that I can't sense them through their ship's interlink, so the quicker I know where they are, the better I'll feel."

* * *

Odd ran blindly up the stairs, cursing the fact he no longer had hands to grab the stair rail with. He stumbled and fell quite a few times, and each time he would somehow pick himself back up and continue on, driven by the footsteps of whoever was pursuing him.

He finally made it out on the roof. He quickly looked about, then set off to one of the edges. There was only one thing left for him to do now, run. Run and keep running until Oblivion finally took him.

"ODD! Stop right there!"

The boy skidded to a halt, surprised. He had thought that Jeremie or Aelita was running after him to try and talk some sense into him. He never expected Mrs. Hertz to be the one calling out to him.

"Odd, I know what you're thinking about doing, and it won't help," she said to him. She was standing six meters away from him, a look of concern and hurt on her face.

"You couldn't have prevented it, Odd," she said, "I know what happened. They locked you inside your own mind and took your body away from you. Whatever they wanted, whatever little scrap of information you had that they needed, they took it from you. No matter how you resisted, no matter how you pleaded, no matter how you screamed, you couldn't stop what you were doing."

"BUT I SHOULD HAVE!" he roared back, "I SHOULD HAVE BEEN STRONGER!"

He collapsed to his knees, crying. "I've fought monsters before," he said, "and won! I've saved the world more times than I can count! I should have been strong enough!"

Suzanne walked up to him. He knew she was coming, but he did nothing, just knelt there, hanging his head down and sobbing.

"I should have been stronger too," she softly told him, "I should have fought off whatever damned thing they put in my head. I should have never lured you into my class, never told them what chloroform was and how to use it. I should have never brought Jim here."

She knelt down with him, and put her hands on his shoulders. "But I did," she said, the tears in her eyes now evident to him as he raised his head and looked at her, "they were too strong, too good for me to stop them. And they were too strong for you. And your friends know that, even Ulrich. His last thought before he fell was, 'forgive him.'"

"Odd," she said, "you are forgiven, even before you ask for it. We both are."

Odd couldn't take it any more. He lunged forward and wrapped his arms as best he could around Suzanne, and began sobbing into her chest. She, in turn, wrapped her arms around him, pulling him closer, caressing his head as she cried her own anguish out.

* * *

Jeremie took the elevator down to the lowest level, the level that housed the supercomputer itself. If everything looked okay there, maybe they were home free.

When the door opened, Jeremie's hopes of a quick end fell. The supercomputer had definitely been tampered with. Borg technology was present all around the room, and wires and conduits were running into the supercomputer's core. It also seemed like cables ran up to the ceiling, and into the access way leading up to the scanner room. Every now and then, little robots of some kind would scurry about, adding something to the equipment, making another connection.

_Dr. Janeway, we have a problem,_ Jeremie sent over the interlink, _take a look._

There was a moment of silence, then he replied, _I just can't buy a break today. Alright, we know it's bad. Go check the other levels and let's find out just how bad bad is._


	14. Worse And Worse

**Disclaimer**: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners, particularly the characters taken from the animated series, Code Lyoko and the television series Star Trek. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.

* * *

Jeremie quickly returned with the bad news. The scanners had been compromised, and it looked like robots were in the process of adding two more, much larger scanners. When Jeremie got up to the console room, he found that it had been totally gutted, there was no equipment there he could use. They had no way to find out the state of Lyoko or the supercomputer. He returned and gave Dr. Janeway the bad news.

"We might be able to fix that," Janeway said, "I can reestablish the interlink between us and the supercomputer. There must be one, otherwise the others wouldn't have take the equipment."

Just then, Aelita and the two police officers returned. "There's no sign of the other Borg anywhere in the factory," she reported.

"And I put out an APB on anyone that looks like them," one of the policemen said.

That caused Dr. Janeway to grimace. "This situation is rapidly deteriorating. For all I know, I've already damaged the timeline beyond recovery."

"Maybe not," Jeremie said, "if we can regain the control of the supercomputer, we can do a Return To The Past and wipe everything out."

"That's what I was hoping for," Janeway said, "but there's still the matter of the people heavily modified, like Odd and these police officers. You do a time jump now and they'll wind up wherever they were bristling with Borg technology, that the Borg back then can take control of. They'll be back in the same boat in no time, and ready for us."

"But what if you removed the technology before we did the RTTP?" Jeremie asked next.

"Hmm, that might work. My nanoprobes won't be affected by the jump, and we can use them to do any final clean up. And if my memories of your memories are correct, won't the RTTP erase their memories?"

"Yes it will," the genius beamed.

"Sounds like a plan."

By this time, Odd and Suzanne had returned to the group. Aelita immediately ran over and embraced Odd, telling him it was okay, they knew he couldn't help himself, that they knew how they were going fix him up. His face was still sad, but it was the sadness of fading sorrow, working its way back to acceptance. Out of another portion of the building, Kiwi ran in and jumped in his person's arms. Odd had a hard time making the catch, but he was able to without dropping his pet or falling on his butt.

"Odd, are you up for a little payback?" Dr. Janeway asked.

"If you mean paying those bastards back for what they did to me and made me do, yeah," he replied with no trace of humor as Kiwi licked his face.

* * *

It didn't take Janeway long to find the junction where the interlink to the supercomputer was. He instructed the nanoprobes to reverse the damage, then activated the link.

"Jeremie, you should have access to the supercomputer now," he said, "just imagine you're sitting at the console like normal and do what you usually do."

Jeremie stood where he was and concentrated. He didn't move for quite a while, causing Jim to get concerned.

"Uh, Juan, is Belpois okay?" he asked.

"Fine, Jim," was the reply, "he's pretending to be typing at the console of the computer that's at the the center of this mess. In a little bit, we should know whether we're almost done, or just getting started."

"Just getting started, I'm afraid," Jeremie suddenly said, "I just got done checking out the supercomputer, and found that the other Borg virtualized themselves onto Lyoko. There's two drones in every sector, and the head Borg is in Carthage."

"What's Carthage?" Jim said.

"That's like the main internal control area in Lyoko," Jeremie said, "XANA lived there and did all of its mischief from there."

"Oh. What's Lyoko and who's XANA?"

"I'd rather not talk about it, Jim," the blond said with a smirk.

"Jeremie, Dr. Janeway, I think we've got more problems," Aelita suddenly called out, "there are a lot of police outside the factory, trying to get in."

"That's okay, Aelita; I've put up a shield around the building so nothing solid can get out or in," Janeway said, "about how many police are outside?"

"All of them, I think," she replied, "it's a madhouse out there."

"Damn."

* * *

Outside the factory, there was chaos. When the captured police radioed their watch commander, they neglected to tell him that the situation was under control. The captain reasoned that whatever was going down was still in progress, and with officers in trouble, he mobilized everything he could.

When the first units arrived at the factory, the officers responding quickly crossed the bridge and tried entering the building, but were stopped by an invisible wall of some kind. When they radioed headquarters to report the situation, the captain freaked out even further and called the army.

Now there were hundreds of squad cars, military transports, news reporters and gawkers crowded around the old factory. The captain had finally come out himself to survey the situation, and was calling into the factory with a bullhorn.

"You! In the building! You are entirely surrounded, and there is no way out! Come out of the building with your hands in plain sight in single file!"

Inside the building, Juan Janeway was shaking his head.

"God hates me, that's all there is to it," he mumbled to no one in particular.

"Which one?" Aelita asked.

"All of them," he replied to her, "every last one."

He was silent for a moment more, then acted. Mentally, he jammed all of the communications equipment in the city. Radios, televisions, telephones, cell phones, any kind of device that radiated electromagnetic waves was suddenly rendered useless, except for the police captain's cell phone and the tape recorder it was attached to. It rang.

"Hello, this is Captain DuBois," the officer said, "who am I speaking to?"

"For lack of a better term, I'm the leader of the gang holding more than a few hostages inside here," Juan replied, "though I am not the one responsible for taking them in the first place. Make no attempt to enter the building; you will not succeed. Additionally, except for this connection, all communications devices within fifty kilometers of this location is now inoperative. If I receive any indication that this incident is being broadcast from anywhere, I'll increase that distance as far as I lave to."

"My friend, you cannot black out the entire planet," Captain DuBois said.

"Actually, I can," came the reply, "not only that, I can do in a similar manner as Klaatu did in 'The Day The Earth Stood Still.' I do not want to do it for a variety of reasons, but my options are rapidly diminishing. Now listen very carefully; the officers who have been taken hostage are alive and as well as can be, given the circumstances. They have been injured, but I will see to it their wounds are healed before they are released. And they will be released, Captain. Now, you say that you have this factory surrounded, and that's good. At this time, no one inside here is to be allowed out, under any circumstances. Some of the terrorists who originally took these hostages are still roaming free, and may use the confusion of your little tea party out there to escape. If you want to see the remaining hostages freed unharmed, stop anyone from leaving this factory, even if that means killing them; do I make myself clear?"

"I understand what you have told me, sir," the captain replied.

"But you aren't agreeing to my terms, your choice," came the reply, "look, I know you want to keep me talking, jerk me around, while your Hostage Rescue Team tries to find a way inside and kill me. Okay, be that way; but let me emphasize that there is absolutely no way into the building. I know I'm wasting my time and my breath, but I want to make sure you realize what I said is true; so when your ass is hauled up before a review board and they ask you whether or not you knew every possible access inside was bobby trapped, you won't be able to tell them you didn't."

That surprised the captain, who quickly waived to another officer, who told his strike team to stand down.

"Very good, captain, you too can be taught," Janeway told him, "remember what I told you, no one is to get out of here alive until you and I reach an agreement. I will be contacting you soon, hopefully."

Janeway broke the communication.

"Did you mean what you said about there being booby traps all over the factory?" Suzanne Hertz asked.

"Other than the ones Kiwi might have left behind when he couldn't hold it anymore, no," Janeway replied with a smile, "if I just kept telling him that there was no way in, he would just keep trying. By telling him that I've got every possible ingress point booby trapped, he'll be a lot more cautious. I'm sure he'll still try and send someone in, but he won't be so heavy handed doing so."

"Sir," one of the police officers said, "maybe we can go up and talk to him."

"Like that?"

The officer looked down a moment at his heavily modified body, then replied, "oh, I see what you mean."

"Look, friend," Juan told the man, "I'm going to get you out of here, and I'm going to fix you up. And if I can make it happen, I'll see to it that this whole mess never happens. Now, how about I let you and the others contact your families, so you can let them know you're okay?"


	15. Bonds

**Disclaimer**: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners, particularly the characters taken from the animated series, Code Lyoko and the television series Star Trek. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.

* * *

The general emergency at the factory made it necessary to evacuate the area around it, including Kadic Academy. A colonel from the army came to Mr. Delmas and told him that the school would have to be vacated, and he had transports with him to move the students. Jean-Pierre instructed Nicole to round up all of the staff and faculty so they could coordinate the evacuation. The entire time, he wished that Jim and Suzanne were around; he never let on to anyone, but the principal heavily depended on his Science Teacher and his Gym Teacher to help him get things done.

Sissi, who had stayed with her father after he chewed her out for being rude earlier, noticed the concern in his voice as he instructed Nichole.

"Daddy, I'm sure they're safe and okay," she said, hoping it would help.

"Deep in the back of my mind, I know you're right," he told her, "but, still, I worry."

"Me too, daddy, me too." She then added silently, _be careful, Ulrich._

* * *

Deep in its subterranean chamber, Janeway's ship was abuzz with activity. While the nanoprobes were using Yumi to support Ulrich's life, the ship was rapidly configuring a large gestation chamber to receive the pair. The instant that the bio-support suit completely surrounded and enclosed them, they were teleported into the waiting chamber. It quickly began filling with nutrient solution, and soon covered the injured pair.

Inside, Yumi and Ulrich were, for all practical purposes, one being. The nanoprobes, in order to preserve Ulrich's life until he could be repaired, and almost totally merged the couple together into one body. If you were able to peer inside the technology surrounding them, you would see a young man and woman joined from the collarbone and shoulders all the way down to the pelvis, one torso sprouting two hips, two pairs of legs, two shoulders with two pairs of arms, topped by two heads.

And it wasn't just the bodies that were joined, their minds were joined too. Each could see the entire panorama of the other's life stretched out before them.

He lay next to her all of those nights when she cried herself to sleep as her parents fought in their room. She held him close as his parents berated him for being such a poor student who would never amount to anything. Each wept for the other as all of the hurts that shaped their lives played themselves out for the other to see. There was absolutely nothing to hide; all secrets were revealed, all fantasies, all nightmares, all sins. The last time Ulrich wet his pants; the time Yumi walked in on her parents making love; the time Ulrich played doctor with Mika Reinhart at age 4; her first period; his first wet dream; the fact she loved him, and the fact the he loved her.

_I Love You. For Ever._

That thought resonated though them. The words were said, untakebackable. In this moment, they knew more about each other than any two people on Earth ever could, the bad and the good. And while their lips did not speak the words, yet, their hearts had, and the other had heard it and acknowledged it. Whatever else happened, they had each other, now and forever; and whatever God, man or Borg joined together, let no one ever try and put asunder...

_Be forewarned; physical separation will commence immediately,_ suddenly came the Voice of the Collective, _as soon as physical connections are removed, mental separation will proceed. Prepare yourselves._

_Nooooooooooo!!!!!!_

* * *

As soon as Janeway had finished with the police, he turned to Jeremie.

"We need to make preparations to assault Lyoko," he told the genius, "but we need to go in on our terms. We're going to have to assume that the other Borg have cracked far enough into the system to make any of your normal methods useless."

"Then I don't know how much help I can be," Jeremie replied, "if they got into the protected memory region where I keep all my routines, we're screwed."

"Think outside the box, literally," Janeway replied, "the ship on the roof and my ship are some of the most sophisticated computers in the universe, with a friendly user interface thrown in at no charge. Not only that, some of the most talented hackers in said universe have had their minds downloaded, not just to keep me company, but to help you find a way in. I've already thrown the problem to the Collective, I just need you to guide their way to a solution. Get ready, and I'll beam you to my ship. You'll be able to work faster there, and have fewer distractions"

"Uh, Dr. Janeway? Could I take Aelita with me?" Jeremie asked, "she's no slouch when it comes to computers."

Janeway smiled, "sure go ahead, just don't get too sidetracked, if you know what I mean."

The boy's face got red as a beet as he got it. Janeway laughed.

"Aelita, you and loverboy here are going on a romantic getaway to try and save the world," he called out to her, "just see to it the two of you find _some_ time to actually save the world, okay?"

Aelita got a quizzical look on her face, then blushed when she saw Jeremie's embarrassment. Before she could reply, they both were teleported to Janeway's ship.

* * *

The nanoprobes in Yumi and Ulrich's body received new instructions, and they began to carefully separate the two. The gestation chamber deployed tubes and connections to replace the ones Yumi had supplied. When they touched the boy, they entered him like he wasn't there, because the micro machines opened up his skin and moved aside muscle and other tissue to allow access. Skin layers began to form between his and her chests, the bone of new rib cages began growing in both of them. Quickly, their bodies separated and the final layers of skin were sealed up. Nanoprobes inside Yumi began reforming her breasts, leaving out small basal cells that had been destroyed when the tissue had first been consumed. Left alone, Yumi would have had a battle with breast cancer a few years down the road.

The device that surrounded their heads also changed. It separated into two parts, one containing Ulrich's head, the other, Yumi's. After the separation, the device started dissolving as the nanoprobes reduced it to raw materials for other purposes. When completed, the only thing that remained of the device was two face masks covering the teens noses and mouths, with tubes supplying fresh air, and evacuating exhaled air.

The physical separation was a success; they were boy and girl again. The mental separation was much harder, like Janeway had predicted.

_Nooooooo! Don't separate us! Not Now!_ they cried in unison, _I/we can't live without him/her!_

_You were told that this would happen before we began,_ came a single voice, a woman's voice, _this is why my son didn't want to do it to you. You both have wanted to be together for so long now, that once you came together, you never want to separate. I can understand it, and I'm happy you finally confessed your love to each other, but humans were never meant to have this level of intimacy. All of the mystery is gone now between you two; there's nothing left to learn. Oh, after this is over, new things will crop up that you will enjoy learning, but you basically know everything there is to know about each other. You've gotten in a few minutes what husbands and wives have spent their entire lives trying to learn._

_Please, _they begged, _there must be some way! We'll join the Collective; anything to stay together!_

_No,_ came the voice again, _though under other circumstances, I might have allowed it. You must live your lives here, on Earth, as humans. You can't join us._

_I/we would rather die than be separated, _they said.

_I know,_ she replied, sadly. The woman's voice was silent for a moment, then she spoke again. _Perhaps there is something I can do for you. First of all, I must suppress your memories of this time together, or else you will die. The only thing you will remember is that it happened and your love for each other. The next thing I will do is this; if you choose to make a life together, I will give you a bond much like a species called Vulcans have between mates. I will program the nanoprobes that you will carry with you to allow it after two conditions have been met. One, you must marry according to the rituals of your culture. You may think that signing a document and saying a few words in front of people mean nothing, but you would be wrong. Two, the bond will be formed on your wedding night, when you come together. Do not rush into sex and take no other lovers; if you do this, then you will be closer than two humans ever will be in this time. Do you agree?_

_Yes,_ they replied in unison.

The world went silent as the link was cut.

* * *

Jeremie and Aelita materialized inside Janeway's ship. They looked about and saw the gestation chamber that contained their two friends. Yumi and Ulrich were separated now; both teens floating naked in the green nutrient fluid. There were a myriad of tubes and things coming out of Ulrich, and he looked like he was asleep. Yumi only wore a face mask, and she looked like she was awake. She also looked like she was crying.

"I hope she's okay," Jeremie said, "but we've got to get to work."

"We need to get into one of those alcoves," Aelita said.

Jeremie nodded and the couple stepped up into adjoining bays. They turned and rested their right arms on an arm rest, just as Dr. Janeway had when he interfaced into one earlier. as soon as they did, interface ports formed on their bodies, and connections snaked from the walls and connected. When everything was in place, they set to work.

* * *

Ulrich Stern was alone. She had been taken away from him. He felt each connection to her individually severed as they pleaded to stay joined. Then, after the last physical piece of her was taken from him, her mind was ripped from his grasp.

He floated in the darkness, alone, and contemplated death. He no longer had her; there was no longer a reason to live. He actually started to slow his heart rate to nothing when he felt it, her touch.

Her arms slid around him, and pulled him close to her. He felt her encircle him pulling him even closer, not into a sexual embrace, but a close embrace nonetheless. He felt her cheek brush his as she rested her head on his shoulder. It was then he remembered The Promise.

They would be together again one day; not exactly as they had just been, but they would be together. When the time was right, their two voices would sing to the universe as one, just as it should be. All he had to do is live, and wait.

* * *

Yumi Ishiyama was more alone at the moment of final separation than she had ever been in her life. One moment, she had been joined with the universe named Ulrich, the next, he was gone. Janeway had been right, she felt as if her soul had been ripped in two. And what was worse, all of those wonderful memories of them together were fading fast away. All too soon, the only thing she could remember was they had been one for a time, and that he loved her as much as she loved him. The only other memory she carried from that time was The Promise that the woman gave her, that they could be that close again one day.

She opened her eyes and saw Ulrich, floating next to her, so close yet so far away. Even though she was in fluid, she cried for her loss. She only briefly registered the arrival of Jeremie and Aelita, and never saw them enter alcoves and begin their work. She reached out and touched him, wishing she could once again melt back into his mind, his body. But she had a Promise; one day they would be rejoined. All she had to do is wait.

She slowly floated over to him. She carefully and gently took him in her arms, and drew him close, careful not to allow the embrace to become sexual, careful not to break The Promise. There would come a time for that, she reasoned; there would come a time when they would be one again. For now, she comforted herself with his presence in her arms, and prayed he felt her presence surrounding him in his healing sleep.


	16. A Way In

**Disclaimer**: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners, particularly the characters taken from the animated series, Code Lyoko and the television series Star Trek. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.

* * *

Jeremie and Aelita swam through data. The supercomputer was an ocean to them, and they glided in and around it. Jeremie would always peer as closely as he could at a particular part of the system, while Aelita just floated above it and took it all in.

"I'm never going to find a way in at this rate," the blond genius muttered in frustration. He had been searching for an hour now, and had barely begun to search the environment.

"Jeremie, join me up her a moment," Aelita called to him.

He turned and saw her, an angel floating in the heavens, beckoning to him. He allowed himself to rise to her level, finally meeting her eye to eye.

"Aelita, you're beautiful," he said, "you're the most beautiful thing I've ever seen."

She smiled at his complement. "You're beautiful too, Jeremie."

She then reached out to him. He extended his arms to her, and they pulled close together.

"You know, with all of the crap we've been through, I'd almost forgotten how much I love you," he told her, "I'm sorry I get so hyper focused sometimes that I forget to tell you that."

"Forgiven," she simply replied as she pulled him into her embrace.

Neither knew how long they stayed like that, but ultimately they parted.

"Although I've wanted to do that for so long now," she said, "and I'm glad you did it, that's not why I called you up here. Look back."

Jeremie turned, still within Aelita's arms, and looked back at the supercomputer data. Everything was laid out before them, and they could see the Borg's tendrils everywhere, combined with XANA's.

"It looks even worse from up here," he told her.

"But we can see the whole thing," she replied, "if we see something from here that looks promising, we can go down and check it out. You didn't rewrite the operating system just to create the Overboard, did you?"

"No, but it was a close thing," he replied with a smile.

Together, they floated above it all and searched for their way in.

* * *

Juan Janeway supervised the clean up of the assembly area, as the police outside ran through their hostage negotiation playbook. One of the first things they did was cut power to the factory, which did exactly nothing. One of the first things the Borg did was reroute power distribution from the utility pole to their ship. Several HRT teams tried to gain entry through various places, but were repulsed by the energy barrier. After the last attempt, Janeway contacted the captain and had an EMT team sent down to recover the policemen, because they tried entering through the sewers and gotten badly electrocuted. After a gentle chiding by Janeway, the police stopped for a while.

He had the former drones start breaking down the equipment that had been set up in the assembly area, then created some robots to recycle the material. He had Jim and Suzanne move the container of discarded tissue out of the area, then had that recycled. Odd set about cleaning the bloodstains that were on the floor, using one of the functions of his replaced forearms. They had sonic projectors built into them that could lift the layers from the concrete, then disburse them in the air. Another recycling robot followed him around, sucking in the dust from his cleaning.

Janeway was wondering how Jeremie and Aelita were doing when he felt a presence in his mind awaken. It was Yumi.

_Feeling better?_ he sent to the girl.

_No, I want Ulrich back, _she replied, _but I know that's not going to happen. Otherwise, I'm fine. How's Ulrich doing?_

_Here's how you check,_ he replied, then mentally showed her how to query the gestation chamber's sensors. _Look, if you're doing better, I want to pull you out of there so we can get on with it. As you can see, Ulrich's out for the duration, and with you not in there, the systems can concentrate on fixing him up._

_Okay, what do I do,_ she said.

_Nothing, I'll take care of it._

Janeway sent a command, and Yumi was transported from the gestation chamber in his ship to the top floor of the factory. When she materialized, she was as naked as she was when she was in the chamber.

_Hey, lech, what's the meaning of this!_ she shouted down the link.

_Don't worry, I've got you covered, at least in a second,_ he snickered in reply. The moment he said that, the nanoprobes inside of here swarmed out through her pores and began reconstructing the clothes she had worn today. When they finished, she was dressed just as she had been when she left home that morning, so long ago.

Home?

_Dr. Janeway! _she called as she ran down the stairs, _I've got to call home! My parents are probably worried sick about me by now!_

_Okay, just think about dialing the number you want to call,_ he said. She did and all of a sudden she heard a dial tone in her head, then the a phone ring. Her mother picked it up on the third ring.

"Hello, Yumi?" her mother frantically answered.

"Yes mom, it's me; I'm alright," she replied, grateful to here that familiar voice again.

"Yumi, come home right this instant!" her mother then said, " there is some kind of trouble going on near the school, and I want you well away from it. The army has come by and said we have to evacuate immediately, and I don't want to get separated from you!"

"Mom, I can't," she replied, "I know what's going on, and I'm in the middle of it, unfortunately. I've been trying to avoid the terrorists that are causing this mess, but they're all over the place, and I can't get to the police. This is the first opportunity I've had to call you, and I don't know if I'll be able to again. You and the rest get out of here, and I will find you when it's over, I promise."

Yumi then hung up the phone before her mother could protest. She finally reached the assembly room where everyone else was.

"I'm going to be grounded for the rest of my life after this is over with," she said.

* * *

Jeremie and Aelita floated above the world that was the supercomputer and searched for a way in, any chink in the seemingly impenetrable wall. Jeremie was beginning to despair of gaining access when something caught his virtual eye.

"Aelita, do you see that?" he asked.

She looked where he directed, then replied, "I don't know, it's pretty small. Let's take a closer look."

Together, they dove down to the thing that caught Jeremie's attention. It was a small block of the messaging protocol that distributed different message packets around the computer system. Jeremie looked at it for a moment, then smiled. He did something, then showed it to Aelita, who smiled too.

"We've got it, my love. Between the two of us, we ought to be able to widen this big enough to virtualize Janeway's ship through!"

* * *

They had finally cleared all of the carnage from the assembly area. Janeway now turned to the humans who had been heavily modified by the Borg. There really wasn't much he could do at the moment; if he began removing some of the larger systems the Borg had installed, he would kill more than a few of them, because those systems had replaced vital organs. When he told them that, a lot of them got depressed. Janeway reassured them that he was working on a way to put them back the way they were before the invasion. He then did the only thing he could do for them, he sent out a mental command, and they all settled down and fell asleep.

Odd and Yumi sat over on the steps leading into the room. Odd sat with his head hanging down,made all the more awkward by the camera unit that had replaced his eye. Yumi had her arm around the boy's shoulder, and was trying to comfort him.

"Odd, it'll be okay!" she told him, "if Dr. Janeway can fix Ulrich up, he surely can fix you!"

"Yeah, I know," he replied, "I guess a part of me wonders if I deserve to be fixed."

Yumi suddenly grabbed the boy by his head and turned him towards her.

"Don't you dare think that you don't deserve to be healed, don't you dare! You couldn't help what happened anymore than you can help being a boy. They _made_ you do that to Ulrich, and we're gonna make them pay for it! And when we're done, we're gonna Return To The Past and make sure none of this ever happens!"

Suddenly Dr. Janeway called out, "everybody, in here! Jeremie's found something!"

* * *

Jeremie and Aelita quickly exploited the hole they found, then left it in a state where they could interface it as needed with Janeway's equipment. They then contacted their comrade, and he disconnected them from his ship and transported them back to the factory.

"Alright, I've got a way into Lyoko without accessing any of the scanner subsystems," Jeremie said, "the problem is though, we're going to have to essentially rewrite all of the programs necessary to virtualize an object in. It wasn't easy, but I did manage to get the code out of the computer without anything noticing it."

"Do you know what modifications need to be made?" Janeway asked.

"Yeah, basically we have to encapsulate the virtualization protocol within the message protocol we've hijacked."

"Think about it for a second," Janeway then said. Jeremie did, then gasped in surprise.

"It's done!"

"That's the power of the Collective," the man said, "millions and millions of hackers, just waiting to do just what you need. If there's anything else you think we'll need before we go in, let them know."


	17. One Last Annoyance

**Disclaimer**: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners, particularly the characters taken from the animated series, Code Lyoko and the television series Star Trek. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.

* * *

It was early evening and Jeremie, Aelita and Dr. Janeway were still working on preparations to attack Lyoko. It was during these preparations that they were interrupted again from the outside.

"Hello! In the building! This is General Lestrade of the French Army! You have ten minutes to lay down your weapons and surrender, or we will open fire!"

"Damn it!' Janeway spat, "I don't have time to mess with those fools!"

With a thought, he called the cell phone of police Captain DuBois.

The man answered on the third ring, "yes?"

"Okay, you people seem to be a little dense out there, so I'm going to have to try, yet again, to convince you that you're wasting your time. Tell General Lestrade that I am coming out onto the bridge between the factory and the shore. I will give him one free shot at me, then I'm going to break all of his little toys. If you're smart, you will get your men and any civilians out of here before I come out. I'm not looking to hurt anyone, but this time I can't guarantee I won't. You have ten minutes."

When Janeway ended the call, Yumi asked him, "is it going to be that bad? If we do a Return To The Past and people have died, they won't return back with us."

"I know," he replied, "but in any case, I can't afford to have those idiots distracting us at a critical moment. We need to get in Lyoko and get those Borg out, or we may wind up dealing with a lot more than just the French Army."

* * *

Ten minutes passed quickly. Capt. DuBois relayed Janeway's message to General Lestrade. When the general heard this, he had all of his men assume firing positions all along the road to across from the factory. He had several tanks positioned to fire on the bridge and had them load up high explosive rounds. He also alerted several attack helicopters to be ready with air-to-ground anti-personnel missiles. He would be ready for whatever came out of that factory.

Exactly on time, a lone figure appeared in the main entrance to the factory. It was a man wearing what looked like a black body suit. He strode out onto the bridge, stopping half way across.

"Your attempts at breaching this facility are futile," he said in a magnified voice, "we have analyzed your technology and found it inferior to our own. Cease further action and we will spare your equipment and troops. Otherwise, we will eliminate your capacity for resistance."

General Lestrade had only one reply to that.

"Fire!"

At that command, every soldier opened fire on the figure on the bridge. All of the tanks fired as one. The helicopters swooped down and in several passes, launched all of their missiles at the bridge. Every round hit its mark. Smoke and dust obscured the bridge and the factory for a moment.

"Cease Fire!" the general ordered, "get me a damage assessment!"

One of the soldiers, positioned directly in front of the figure, peered ahead, through the smoke. The breeze helped to dissipate the fog, and quickly the scene revealed itself.

The bridge was untouched; the figure was still standing where he had stopped. There was no indication that any of the rounds had hit their mark.

"No effect on the target! Repeat, no effect!" the man called out.

Before the general could call for another volley, Juan Janeway spoke.

"My turn."

At that, green beams flashed out from the figure, hitting each tank, each soldier. Beams arced up and hit the helicopters, supposedly safely away from the battle. Then the beams started taking effect.

The weapons that the soldiers carried fell apart, turning to dust. Then, their uniforms started to decay. The barrels of the tank's cannons started to decompose, then the rest of the vehicle. Inside, the tank crews scrambled to exit the vehicles as their uniforms too decayed from their bodies. And all of the helicopters suddenly set down, autorotating to hard landings before beginning to rot, their crews sharing the same fates as their ground-based comrades.

The figure now walked from the bridge and into the crowd of naked men. Everyone cut the figure a wide birth. He walked up to General Lestrade, getting inches from the man's face. The general, defiant as a naked man could be, returned his foe's stare with a glare of his own.

"General, I have been toying with you and the police for quite long enough," Janeway said, "I mean no harm to anyone here, but your interference is costing me time and resources. Take your men and withdraw. Have the police clear this area for a radius of ten city blocks. I will set up automatic sensors to monitor compliance. If I detect another armed person approaching this complex, I will destroy them with no warning. And don't even think about using human shields; my weaponry is good enough to hit my targets from around corners or in between arms or legs. I can kill exactly who I need to without harming noncombatants. My defenses can deflect anything your army can dish out, including thermonuclear, chemical and biological weapons. This is the last time I will tell you this: don't mess with me again."

With that, the figure turned and returned to the factory. No one stopped him.


	18. The Assault On Lyoko

**Disclaimer**: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners, particularly the characters taken from the animated series, Code Lyoko and the television series Star Trek. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.

* * *

When Janeway returned, Jeremie piped up and said, "I think we've got everything ready to go, Dr. Janeway."

"Good," he replied, "everybody get ready, we're moving back to my ship, except for Kiwi. Kiwi!"

Odd's little dog appeared out of nowhere, ran up to Dr. Janeway and sat expectantly.

"Okay, little one, I want you to go down to the scanner room and be our eyes and ears," Janeway said to the dog, "if everything goes as planned, the others will devirtualize and then head for their ship. When they all come out, I want you to escort them there. If anything goes wrong, get away from the factory; understand?"

Kiwi happily barked his understanding.

"Good boy! Now, get going!"

With that Kiwi ran off to fulfill his assignment.

"How's Kiwi going to get down to the scanner room by himself?" Odd asked.

"No problems, Odd. By now, the elevator and just about every piece of equipment in this building has been infected with nanoprobes. Kiwi will not have any trouble getting down to the scanners."

With that, everyone in the room vanished.

* * *

When they materialized in Janeway's ship, Yumi immediately went over to the gestation chamber where Ulrich was still healing. She pressed herself close to the barrier, like she was trying to phase through it and join him once again. Even though he was unconscious, Ulrich reached out a hand and pressed it against the barrier, directly opposite her hand. They stayed that way for a long time. She reluctantly pulled away from him only when Janeway spoke.

"Okay, listen up! We're going to assault all four sectors at once, eliminating the Borg in each one. Once the outer sectors are clear, we will move into sector five for the Arbiter. Two people will be sent to each sector: Jeremie and Aelita will take the Forest Sector, Odd and Suzanne will take the Desert Sector, Yumi and Jim, the Mountain Sector. Ulrich and I will take the Ice Sector."

"Ulrich!?" Yumi exclaimed.

"Yes, Ulrich," Janeway said, "your boyfriend's back. He's recovered enough so that he is at a low level of awareness, enough for this mission, and his connections in the chamber are adequate for the transfer. And no, you can't be with him; Jim and Suzanne have no idea what to expect on Lyoko, so one of you more experienced warriors needs to be with them."

"Now," he continued, "this will be different than what you're used to. You will not be deconstructed and resconstructed in Lyoko. Instead, an avatar will be sent in your place, controlled by your thoughts. You will control them from these alcoves. The downside is that it will take a little getting used to on Lyoko. The upside is if you get devirtualized, you can be sent back immediately. Also, you can't be trapped, if they somehow cut the link, you'll wind up back here. Questions?"

"Dr. Janeway, Suzanne and I don't know anything about this; we won't be any good to you in this Lyoko place," Jim said.

"I think you'll surprise yourself," he replied, "and remember, there are trillions of people that have your back. You'll do fine. Now, lets get this over with!"

* * *

Jeremie and Aelita materialized in the Forest Sector. This was the third time that Jeremie had ever been to Lyoko, and really the first time he ever came to fight. He looked down at himself and saw he was wearing a black bodysuit like Dr. Janeway wore. Aelita had taken her normal Lyoko persona.

"Welcome to Lyoko, Jeremie," Aelita said to him, adding a kiss.

"Target Borg located northeast of your current position," came a chorus speaking as one. The Collective was taking Jeremie's role in this battle. "Warning, Kankerlats approaching."

Just as the voice had said that, five little potato spuds scuttled into view on mechanical legs. Jeremie just raised his arm, thought 'fire' and a green bolt flew out of his arm and hit one of the monsters, destroying it. The other four fired their lasers in response. The shots were deflected by shields that flared as soon as the beams reached a certain point.

"I wonder if I can do that too," Aelita asked. She then pointed at one of the monsters, and a green bolt shot out from her hand, destroying another one.

Jeremie in the mean time, fired off more bolts, destroying the rest of the Kankerlats.

"Wow! This is a lot better than the last time I was on Lyoko!" he exclaimed.

"Warning, Sixteen Hornets approaching from the north-northeast. Six Krabes approaching from the south," the Collective warned.

"Come on, princess; it seems like we've got our work cut out for us."

* * *

Odd and Suzanne Hertz materialized in the Desert Sector. They materialized standing at ground level, rather than up in the air and dropping down.

"Hmm, he was right, this is different," Odd said, looking at himself. he was wearing what he normally wore on Lyoko, a purple suit with cats paw gloves. The nature of their connection to Lyoko was different, however; more like he was controlling a character in a video game rather than actually being there.

Suzanne looked down at herself and saw she was wearing a black body suit like Janeway and the other Borg wore. Odd looked at her and said, "I guess that's the default if you've never been here before."

"Target Borg located south of your current position," came the chorus of The Collective, "no enemies detected, but proceed with caution."

"No kidding," said Odd, "c'mon, Mrs. Hertz, let's go get us some."

* * *

Yumi and Jim Moralés materialized in the Mountain Sector.

"Wow! Where'd you get the cute outfit?" Jim asked.

She quickly looked at herself and said, "this is how I look on Lyoko, Jim. Look's like we've got company."

She pointed off in the distance and saw a wave of Creepers moving towards them.

"Target Borg are located directly ahead," said the Collective, "and below your current location. Multiple inbound targets detected."

"No kidding," Yumi said, "c'mon, Jim; let's do a little pest control!"

* * *

Ulrich and Dr. Janeway materialized in the Ice Sector. Both warriors materialized wearing Borg bio-support suits.

"What? where's my uniform, my sword?" Ulrich asked.

"You've probably been influenced by the gestation chamber," Janeway said, "the Borg technology that's healing you may have influenced the materialization programs enough to array you like that. By the way, how are you feeling?"

"Like paying some people back for messing me up," Ulrich said with an edge in his voice, "And I know what you want to do with them, One-from-One, that you have no intention of destroying them. I won't let you turn them loose on Earth again."

"Ulrich, I don't need them to assimilate the Earth, if that were my intention," Janeway told the boy, "all I need to do is to pump nanoprobes into the air, and this planet will be Borg before the week's out. You're right, though; I'm not going to kill my own kind for doing the only thing they know to do. I'm going to lock them away where they will never bother you or anyone on Earth again. Someplace safe where they can hibernate until we can rescue them."

"Where's that?" Ulrich asked.

"With me," was Janeway's reply.


	19. Scorched Lyoko

**Disclaimer**: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners, particularly the characters taken from the animated series, Code Lyoko and the television series Star Trek. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.

* * *

Jeremie and Aelita were lost in a swarm of enemies. It seemed like their entire existence was running, shooting, stopping, shielding and running again.

The Hornets and Krabes quickly turned into Creepers and Megatanks. And they didn't just attack in singles and pairs, they attacked in dozens. Jeremie fired bolt after bolt of green energy, instantly destroying whatever target he hit. When one of the monsters fired back, he raised his shield and stopped the blow.

Aelita was by his side, using her own weapons. Earlier in the summer, she and Jeremie had worked on an offensive weapon for her, an energy field. She could generate a ball of energy and cast it at any target, taking it out instantly. Some experimentation found that she could also use two energy orbs as a kind of shield, though they didn't know how effective it would be.

Now, however, Aelita's energy field was composed of the same green energy that Jeremie's energy bolts were. And even though she was utilizing the persona she always had on Lyoko, she was also equipped with the same shields that Jeremie had.

"Look out! On your right!" Jeremie suddenly called out.

The pink princess looked right, just in time to see a Megatanks beam cutting straight at her, _horizontally._ She instantly brought her shield up to block the blow. The moment the beam touched the shield, it shattered like glass.

"I've never seen them do that before!" Aelita exclaimed.

"You would have to figure that they would learn something sooner or later," Jeremie replied, "let's move on."

"Target Borg are directly ahead," came the voice of the Collective, "no further resistance detected; advance and secure targets."

The two Lyoko Warriors looked ahead and saw the Waytower from the Forest Sector to the Mountain Sector. Directly in front of the tower were their targets, two Borg.

When their adversaries noticed their approach, one of the drones entered the tower, while the other began laying down suppression fire. Both teens shielded themselves from the bolts.

"WARNING! Sector destabilizing!" the Collective suddenly said.

"What? What's going on?" Jeremie shouted back.

"The Forest Sector is beginning to delete itself," came the reply, "the drone that entered the tower entered some kind of erasure program. Withdraw immediately from the area, and prepare to be removed."

Now, the effects of the Borg's action was being seen. The tower vanished, and the drone that was inside dropped to the ground, before disappearing. The one guarding the tower vanished too. Then, all of the ground surrounding the tower started to vanish.

"C'mon, 'Lita! We gotta go!" Jeremie shouted.

* * *

"Man, I'm really on my game today!" Odd exclaimed as he destroyed his twentieth Krabe.

He and Suzanne had been wading through an ocean of Krabes, Bloks and Tarantulas for what seemed like an eternity. Mrs. Hertz had quickly caught on to the way the game was played, and was snapping off shots like she had been doing it all of her life. She had gotten confident enough to fire at one target, then turn and shoot the next one before the first target had even been hit.

"I must admit, I've never done anything like this," she marveled, "I'll have to try one of those video games you kids are going on and on about sometime."

"Who knows, maybe we can talk Einstein into letting you in the gang," Odd said as he blocked a shot from three Creepers who had caught him in a crossfire."

"Target drones ahead," said the Collective, "be advised; the Forest Sector has been deleted, due to the actions of the drones in that sector. The probability is high that the sector will be deleted if the drones believe they will be taken. Use caution in your approach and be prepared for extraction at any sign of instability."

As they drew closer to their objective, the monsters seemed to get even thicker, if that were possible. Now, instead of the larger monsters like Krabes, they were being attacked by waves and waves of Bloks, Kankerlats and Hornets. Both warriors were almost continually firing at targets, their shields flaring whenever they received return fire. A lucky shot got through and devirtualized Odd; but a millisecond later, he was right back in the same position, firing again.

Their quarry was stationed in front of the Waytower between the Desert Sector and the Mountain Sector. As they approached, the two Borg began firing at them along with the other monsters. The mass of incoming fire was so great, Odd and Suzanne couldn't even return fire. They just kept advancing, their shields flaring at full power the entire time. When a monster touched one of their shields, it was instantly destroyed.

The two were finally close enough to see the Borg's faces. Suzanne fired on them while Odd protected their back from the monsters they just waded through. Suzanne scored a hit on one of the drones, causing it to vanish. The other turned and immediately entered the tower before the woman could hit it.

"One drone secured," the Collective said, "WARNING! Sector destabilizing! Prepare for devirtualization!"

Odd and Suzanne disappeared before the Waytower did.

* * *

"Eyaaahhhh! Take that! And that!" Jim exulted, "what, you want a piece of me?! Take that!"

Each time Jim shouted, he fired at a target. Each time he fired, the monster was destroyed.

"Ah, Jim; do you remember doing anything like this before?" Yumi asked him as she fending off her own attackers.

"No! This is so cool, I think I'd remember it if I'd done this before!" was the reply.

The two were being assaulted by just about every monster in Lyoko, including flying Mantas. the large avian fish would fly over the two, dropping their mines down from above. Their shields held, but it was hampering progress.

Yumi's fans were whirling all around, trying to take out the airborne targets. Keeping track of each fan was difficult, but deep in the back of her mind, something helped her out.

Jim just stood and fired at whatever approached from the ground, oblivious at being shot at. Each time a bolt would hit, his shield would flare up at the last instant, deflecting the shot. He was a maniac, living out every little boy's fantasy of shooting all of the bad guys and never getting hurt.

"Be advised," the Collective called out, "The Desert Sector has been deleted; proceed with caution."

Suddenly, and opening presented itself. Yumi guided two of her fans in and hit one of the Mantas, destroying it. As it perished, it rammed into another Manta, pushing it into the mines it had just laid.

"Yeah, girl! That's the way to do it!" Jim shouted, "my old Sargent told me, 'if you get two with one shot, ya done good!'"

Just as he finished his praise, a flurry of fire came in and devirtualized him. An instant later, he was right back where he was before.

"Whoa! Better watch myself next time," he said, turning his attention back on his attackers.

Even though Yumi and Jim were more or less pinned down where they were, Yumi's fans gave them the ability to press their attack forward. The airborne enemies had been cleared away for the moment, so now the Japanese girl could concentrate on the Borg. She directed her weapons to swoop down upon them. She managed to hit one, devirtualizing it, while the other deflected the blow and made for the tower it was standing before.

Yumi knew what the drone's tactic was; if it couldn't hold the Sector, it would enter the tower and delete it. Yumi directed her fans to swoop down and around the drone, keeping it away from the entrance. The Borg responded by firing at the impediments, destroying one of them.

"Jim, can you hit that drone?" Yumi shouted, "it's about to delete the Sector!"

Jim took careful aim, because the distance was so far, and fired. He caught the drone square in the back just as it was about to enter the tower. It devirtualized half way through.

"Alright! We saved one!' Yumi shouted.

Jim was about to join her when the Collective called out, "WARNING! Sector destabilizing! Prepare to be devirtualized!"

"Damn!" Jim said just before they vanished, "all that work and they delete the place anyways!"

* * *

Ulrich and Dr. Janeway were negotiating their way across the ice to their objective. Unlike the others, these two warriors had yet to meet any resistance.

"I don't like the feel of this," Ulrich said, "we should have run into something by now."

"I agree, something's up," Janeway said, "status update!"

"Three drones have been secured," said the Collective, "three sectors have been deleted. Current projections indicate that the drones will delete the Ice Sector without delay."

"Why are they deleting Lyoko," Ulrich asked, "we can get directly into Sector Five without the other sectors, right?"

"That's right," Janeway said, then adding to the Collective, "analyze current quantum memory utilization. Query: how much memory was freed by the deletion of the other sectors, and how is that memory being utilized."

"Current utilization is unchanged. Quantum memory released by the deletion of the other sectors has been rerouted to support Sector Five. WARNING! Sector destabilizing! Prepare for immediate devirtualization!"

"Hmm," Janeway said as they devirtualized, "they're not even going to fight us anymore."

* * *

Janeway's eyes snapped open in his alcove. He reoriented himself, stepped out, then took stock of his surroundings. The others had left their alcoves just as soon as the connection to Lyoko broke. Jim was regaling Suzanne and the others with his adventures in Lyoko. The rest, other than Yumi and Ulrich, stood around listening to his stories. Yumi was again pressed up against the gestation chamber Ulrich was in. Ulrich, surprisingly awake, was pressed against the chamber from his side, trying to get to his other half.

"I guess the old maxim is true," Janeway said, "'no plan survives contact with the enemy."

"So now what?" Jeremie asked.

"Now, we face them in Sector Five," Janeway replied, we've got three of them, so that leaves six left to secure."

"Six against six; that's better odds than I thought we'd have," Odd said.

"Actually, it's not six against six," Janeway said, "remember, they've got XANA on their side, and it can control just about everything on Lyoko. They tried using what was there to stop us and that didn't work. Now, they're going to probably reconfigure things to give them a better playing field for when we next go after them. R & R for a few minutes, folks. Jeremie, we need to do a little more scouting before we go back in."


	20. The Lost, Finally Found

**Disclaimer**: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners, particularly the characters taken from the animated series, Code Lyoko and the television series Star Trek. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.

* * *

Jeremie and Dr. Janeway reentered the supercomputer, carefully picking their way inward towards Sector Five, Carthage. They reached the edge of the sector, and carefully inserted probes in the stream to see what was going on.

Normally, Carthage was a sphere, surrounded by the data streams from the other sectors. Now, it was a flat plane, with some kind of structure rising from its center. Just in front of the structure, the remaining Borg stood, surrounding their leader. The head Borg seemed to hold something in his hands, something red that pulsed.

"This is not good," Janeway said, "let's pull back, Jeremie; we've got to talk."

* * *

"Things just got worse, troops," Janeway said as he stepped out of his alcove.

All of the others, except Yumi, stopped what they were doing and turned their attention to the Borg. Yumi made no move to turn from Ulrich, but Janeway knew that the both of them were listening. Jeremie stepped out of the alcove he was in and stood by Aelita.

"The Borg have taken the memory released by deleting the other sectors and used it to construct a virtual subspace transmitter. If they manage to get it completed, and virtualize it into the real world, they will send out a general distress signal and every Borg ship in this region will converge on the solar system. It won't matter if we capture or kill any of the ones left; the incoming drones will immediately begin assimilation procedures. If that happens, it's game over."

"Well, why don't we just turn the damn thing off?" Jim asked, "shut them down and trap them inside."

"One, they are people who are just trying to do what they think is right," Janeway said, "second, we can't just turn the supercomputer off. The Borg tied it into their power grid, disabling the on/off switch when they did."

"So, what do we do now?" Yumi asked, never turning her face away from Ulrich's.

"We face them on their ground, on their terms, it seems," Janeway finally said, "and if that fails, I'll probably have to blow Paris up in order to make sure I get them."

Janeway set up a program in his ship's computer to scan for any signs anywhere on earth of a subspace transmitter coming on line. If that happened, or if Janeway didn't terminate the program, the ship would position itself over Paris from low orbit, and obliterate the city and everything for two hundred kilometers around it.

"If any of you are praying people, best do it now," he finally said, "we're going to need all of the help we can get this time, and it may be the last chance you ever have of preparing for the afterlife."

* * *

They virtualized at the edge of the sector. This time, they all wore the black bio-support suits of the Borg, since they could no longer access their Lyoko weapons and equipment.

"More than likely, they will attempt to assimilate us," Janeway said, "because more is better to the Borg. Also, capturing one of us gives them knowledge of our capabilities. Now, listen carefully to me; if they attempt to assimilate you, let them. The moment they try interfacing with your minds, they'll run into the nanoprobes and we'll have our opening."

"What happens if they manage to beat your nanoprobes?" Mrs. Hertz asked.

"If they're capable of overcoming technology a thousand years in advance of theirs, they deserve the win," Janeway replied, "however, to do that, they're going to have to ignore their own Queen's Override Protocol, which will be the first thing they run into when they attack. No Borg can deny an order given using the Queen's Override Protocol, not even these drones. The moment they touch my technology, they're mine."

They then began their slow advance on their adversaries. Yumi and Ulrich, finally reunited, walked closely together, arm in arm, savoring the other's presence, if though it was only virtual. Jeremie had taken Aelita's hand, and Jim took Suzanne in his arms. That just left Odd and Dr. Janeway. Odd gave the man a sideways look, and saw him returning it.

"Save it kid," Janeway replied, "I prefer my companions a little more mature, and female."

The first attack came when they were half way to their objective. Suddenly, it seemed like the group was trapped in some kind of pit, with nowhere to turn. Things began hammering at them, trying to divide them, trying to split them open and gain entry. Their shields flared bright green in response, while bolts of green electricity flared out, seeking the attackers, finding the edges of their confinement and ripping them away. Once free, they pushed forward.

The next attack was more intense. Now it seemed like the group was being crushed by the very fabric of Lyoko, crushed then torn apart. Yumi lost contact with Ulrich for just an instant, and she replied with a counterattack even more vicious that the original attack had been. She quickly found her second half and reinforced his defenses with hers.

Odd wasn't quite as lucky this time. His weakness was that, for a short time, he had been part of the Borg collective they were fighting. Their presence managed to isolate him from the others, then called out to his implants to rejoin them against this assault.

Odd's response was to open himself up to them. The Borg almost roared in triumph as they rushed in to take control, only to be stymied by the nanoprobes in Odd's system. They tried penetrating the technology to overwhelm it, only to be nearly overwhelmed themselves in the counterattack. Now that the nanoprobes had made contact, they lashed out at the drone's control centers, easily subverting their technology, working their way ever closer to the drones themselves, and their Arbiter. Sensing imminent defeat, the attackers withdrew. They had great difficulties doing it, but they finally disengaged with Odd.

After that, there were no attacks. Instead, the Borg frantically worked to complete the subspace transmitter they were trying to build; trying to complete it and materialize it before they were overrun by Janeway and his companions. They almost succeeded.

Just before they broke off the attack, one of Odd's nanoprobes managed to launch a virus program into the enemy drones network. It was programmed to quietly subvert their network, rerouting it to one Janeway controlled. By the time they realized what was happening, it was too late. All of the remaining Borg, except for the Arbiter, were captured.

The other drones moved away from their former Arbiter, and allowed Janeway and the others to approach.

"Advance no further," the Arbiter said, "If you continue, I will activate this transmitter."

"Irrelevant," Janeway replied, "this quantum pocket has no access to normal space-time."

"Incorrect," the Arbiter replied, "the signal shall propagate through my ship. The others will come and make this world Borg."

"No, they will not," Janeway replied, "I have total control of your ship, including all of its internal systems. You are cut off here, trapped. Surrender, further resistance is futile."

"You misunderstand the power available to me," the Arbiter said as he began to power up the transmitter. He seemed to squeeze on the red orb he held its hands, XANA, and memory began to transfer from the outer parts of Carthage to the transmitter in the center, and it began to disappear, materializing itself in the real world. The Arbiter regarded his foes with the calm assurance that came with total victory when the transmitter vanished out of all existence.

"You see, resistance is futile," Janeway said, "I control everything now. Surrender."

"No," the Arbiter replied, "I will not betray my Queen. I am a part of a greater whole than you realize. We will eventually return and make this world ours."

Then Arbiter collapsed.

"There is no reason to kill yourself, brother," Janeway said, "I have only come here to help you, for you are lost and do not realize it."

The dying Borg replied, "I will never betray my Queen!"

"And you won't," Janeway replied, "listen."

He then sent the command to cease self destruct using the Queen's Override Protocol. The Arbiter's natural eyes widened as his implants accepted the command and ceased the procedure.

"We have come a long way, through time itself, to rescue you," Janeway said, with the entire Collective behind him, "we had thought you lost; gone beyond all recovery when we got word of your location. We, your brothers and sisters, your ancestors and descendants, have come from a thousand years in the future to find you and return you to our fold. Join us, return to our chorus, for we have missed your song for too long."

That was the final blow. The last thing any Borg drone truly wanted was to be separated from the Collective. Arbiters of this era were chosen specifically for their ability to operate for long durations out of direct contact with other Borg, but that didn't mean they could operate independently forever. Even the strongest Arbiter longed for Home.

The Arbiter released its hold on the red orb it had been holding, and joined his comrades. When he did, the entire Collective rejoiced at their lost son's return.

Jeremie Belpois walked over to the red orb and picked it up. He glared at it for a moment, then said, "now XANA, you die!"


	21. After Action Cleanup

**Disclaimer**: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners, particularly the characters taken from the animated series, Code Lyoko and the television series Star Trek. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.

* * *

"Stop, Jeremie! Don't do it!" Janeway cried out.

"NO!" Jeremie roared back, "I finally have it, weak and defenseless. I'll never have another chance like this, XANA has to be destroyed!"

"No, Jeremie, it doesn't, not yet," Janeway said, calmer now, "sometimes, you have to do what seems like the wrong thing in order to do the right thing."

"Huh?" Jeremie replied, "what do you mean by that?"

"During the Second World War, England managed to crack Germany's military ciphers" Janeway retorted, "one of the messages they intercepted stated that Germany was about to bombard a fairly populated English city. What do you think happened?"

"They evacuated the city."

"Wrong, they didn't. They did nothing. The Germans bombed the city and thousands were killed, all to protect the fact that England had Germany's codes. Churchill carried the burden of that decision for the rest of his life."

"What does any of that have to do with XANA?" the genius replied.

"The point of my story is that sometimes you must do some unpleasant things to accomplish your goals," Janeway said, "Churchill could have warned the city, but when the attack was repulsed, the Germans would have known that their codes were compromised and changed them. You could have turned off the supercomputer years ago like you said, but would Aelita be here if you did?"

"No," Jeremie replied.

"Then what else might happen if you destroy XANA now," Janeway said, "maybe nothing; but maybe, you could lose everything you care about."

Jeremie was silent a moment as he pondered Janway's words. Fnally, he looked at the Borg and said, "I'll take that chance. I have my enemy in my grasp, and I will destroy it!"

With that, Jeremie began crushing the orb that was XANA. It tried everything it could to escape, to somehow, anyhow, divert the boy's rage and purpose away from it. Then, as if a switch had been thrown, Jeremie stopped. Dr. Janeway had the nanopobes override Jeremie's consciousness, stopping him from eliminating XANA.

"I'm sorry, son, I truly am," Janeway sadly said, "but I can't let you do this. Hate me forever if you must, but I must do what I know is right."

He then walked over and took the orb from Jeremie's trembling hands. Janeway regarded the rogue program for a moment, then the world around them began to change. Carthage Sector began to reform itself in its original configuration. As further memory was released and reorganized, the sectors of Lyoko began to reform. In a matter of moments, Lyoko was back to its original condition.

Janeway then said to XANA, "I have spared your existence for now, because it is necessary. Withdraw and do not confront these children for three Earth weeks, regardless of any time jumps. This is not a pardon, only a reprieve. One day, you will have to answer for the deeds you have done. Now go!"

With that, Janeway released XANA, and it disappeared from Lyoko, slinking its way back to the Internet.

"I'm sorry I had to do that to you, Jeremie," Janeway said, "but it's for the best though you will probably never believe me. Now, let's get out of here and prepare to fix everything up."

* * *

The remaining Borg materialized in the scanners and joined their captured comrades. Kiwi gave a bark, and they turned as one and marched to the elevator, where they were taken to the roof and their ship. They boarded their vessel, and the ship lifted off, flew over to the pond where Janeway's ship was stored, and was teleported away. Once settled next to Janeway's ship, the drones consciousness were merged with the Collective, while their bodies were dematerialized and stored for later recovery.

The gang found themselves back in the alcoves on Janeway's ship. After stepping out, Janeway tried to console Jeremie, but the genius just turned away, rebuffing him. The man sighed, but shook it off.

"Okay people, we won!" he began, "now comes the hard part. We've got to get everyone that was assimilated, and get all of the invading Borg technology out of them before we can do any kind of Return To The Past. Now that's going to be real tricky, since a lot of vital organs were replaced with Borg implants. So what we need to do now is get everyone back over to the factory and set things up so the nanosecond the old tech is out, we launch the Return before anyone has a chance to die. And that includes you too, Ulrich."

* * *

They returned to the factory, back to the assembly area where they left the assimilated humans, and saw that nothing had changed. All of the people were peacefully asleep.

Ulrich stood by Yumi, wrapped in her arms, pressing himself against her like he was trying to merge with her. When Janeway transported him here, he fabricated his clothes just as he did for Yumi earlier.

"Aelita," Janeway said, "could you help me with setting up the Return To The Past? I'd ask Jeremie, but he's not exactly speaking to me right now."

"I'll do it," Jeremie said, hearing the exchange, "but that doesn't mean I forgive you for what you did."

"Fair enough," the man replied.

They set things up, then gave Jim and Suzanne the bad news.

"I'm afraid you won't remember a thing about this," Janeway said, "the method I used to transport you to Lyoko was specifically set up to keep your patterns out of the supercomputer's database. Since you don't have an entry there, you won't remember a thing about what has happened. Having said that, on behalf of the United Federation of Planets and the Borg Collective, I thank you for all you have done to make my mission a success. I will tell you this much, you will have a long and happy life together, and the generations that spring forth from you will flow even to my era. Peace And Long Life to you, James Moralés and Suzanne Hertz-Moralés; Live Long and Prosper."

With that, Janeway sent out a command, and the nanoprobes began their work, consuming and removing all of the Borg technology from the humans. Odd had been warned of what was coming, and had laid down. Now, the devices that replaced his forearms disappeared, leaving stubs in their place. The camera that replaced his eye vanished, leaving an ugly, gaping hole. He started shuddering as convulsions started because implants that had replaced organs disappeared.

The other humans started experiencing the same symptoms. In a matter of seconds, they would die if the Return wasn't initiated.

Janeway turned to Ulrich and Yumi and said, "if you two want to get it out of the way now, I suggest you do. Return To The Past Now."

Ulrich and Yumi locked their lips in a passionate kiss as the chronometric wave of the Return washed over them.


	22. The Long Journey Home

**Disclaimer**: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners, particularly the characters taken from the animated series, Code Lyoko and the television series Star Trek. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.

* * *

Jeremie, Aelita, Odd, Ulrich and Yumi were sitting once again in the conference room they had met Dr. Janeway in, what seemed like an eternity ago.

"I see everybody survived the return," he said, "Odd, how do you feel?"

"Great!" he replied. "hey Ulrich, I'm really sorry about..."

Odd stopped when he saw that Ulrich and Yumi had resumed what they had been doing when the return hit.

"Aw, c'mon! Get a room, you two!" he exclaimed, earning a laugh from the rest of the room.

"Jeremie, you okay?" Janeway asked next.

"Physically, I'm fine," he replied.

"And I can live with that," Janeway said, "well gang, congratulations, you just saved the world again. Now, you have to spend the rest of your lives keeping quiet about it."

"Do your really think we can keep this secret that long?" Aelita asked, "I mean, contact with alien life is a world changing event! Everybody's got to know..."

"That there are aliens who ravage worlds for their technology and natural resources?" Janeway replied, "what you think the reaction to that will be? No, when it does happen, it will be traumatic enough for Earth; there's no need to compound matters with the Borg. Now, I suggest you go and have a good time, you certainly deserve it. But, remember, even though you're the Champions Of The Moment, you still have classes tomorrow."

With that, the group broke up.

* * *

Things went back to normal after that, at least as normal as things ever got for the Lyoko Warriors. Juan Janeway stayed on for the rest of the year, as he promised the principal, counseling the students as best he could. For the most part, he didn't meddle too much, but occasionally he did perform a significant alteration of a subject if that person looked to be about to do something stupid and terminal.

It took another two years for the gang to finally defeat XANA. All the while, Jeremie held his resentment of what Janeway did, until the time came that Jeremie needed XANA's help to keep Aelita from dying. After that incident, Jeremie moderated his opinion of Janeway's actions, just a little.

In all, Juan Janeway remained at Kadic for six years, keeping watch over the Lyoko Warriors, and counseling them when things got rough. He got a regular apartment in the area, so he could entertain guests without blowing his cover. And, every now and then, he would have the most unusual guests in his home, and when he did, he made it a point to invite the gang over to visit.

One time, he introduced them to a man named Flint, who knew more about ancient history than all of their teachers combined. He spoke of things that happened during the glory days of Rome like they happened just last week. After the man left, Janeway told the kids that Mr. Flint was thousands of years old, and would live for several hundred more years before passing away.

Another person he introduced the to was a woman, Roberta Lincoln. He wouldn't say what she did, but he did tell them that if anything _strange_ ever happened around them after he had gone to call her. Fortunately, none of them ever had to do that.

The most memorable person he introduced them to wasn't human. It took a lot to tell, but the pointed ears and the slight greenish cast to his skin did tend to give it away. Janeway just introduced the man as a castaway doing his best to survive on a desert island.

* * *

Time marched inexorably on, and the time came for graduations. Yumi graduated first, being a year ahead of the others, and that set off one of the biggest rows in Kadic Academy's history.

Her parents insisted that she return to Japan for her college education. The Ishiyamas had scrimped and saved for years, calling in any and every favor owed them to get their daughter enrolled in Tokyo University. They didn't take it very well when she told them that she had no intention of returning home or going to college; she was going to remain in France and marry Ulrich.

Yumi and Ulrich were as close as two people could be without engaging in sex. The promise that the woman gave them was still etched in their souls, that if they did things the right way, they could once again become one flesh. After the Borg incident, the couple could be found in secluded spots, holding each other as close and as tight as they could as they embraced. They would snake their hands under the other's clothes, not to excite them, but to feel their skin and, for a moment, surmount a small barrier that kept them truly apart. Even Sissi Delmas, who had been chasing after Ulrich for years, finally recognized the bond between the two and backed off.

Yumi's parents went ballistic when she told them she wasn't going to college, but not near as ballistic as Ulrich's parents did when he told them he was dropping out of high school to marry Yumi. Besides not wanting their son to quit school, Ulrich's father said he would not all his son to marry any 'Jap whore' and sully his family with half-breed children.

Rather than expend a lot of energy arguing with people who could not be swayed, Yumi and Ulrich did the only thing they could, they ran off together the day Yumi graduated. The gang didn't see them again for years, but a day and a night after they ran off, a _YESSSSS!!!!!_ screamed down the interlink that the nanoprobes maintained between each other. Jeremie and Aelita, who were making out themselves at the time, silently wished the bride and groom all the best as they redoubled their efforts.

Odd, Aelita and Jeremie graduated the next year. Odd disappeared soon after that, leaving Jeremie and Aelita the last two Lyoko Warriors in Paris. The couple went on to college, but not in the fields everyone expected. Jeremie majored in Electronic Engineering, and Aelita in Music Production. They made their livings acting as DJs for various events. Aelita had always had a gift for mixing music, and loved how the crowd reacted when she performed. Jeremie supported her by building and maintaining the equipment she needed, utilizing technology he got from a certain inactive supercomputer the couple knew about. Later on, they patented some of the designs found in the computer, and lived comfortably off the royalties.

Dr. Janeway stayed at Kadic for another two years after the last of the Lyoko Warriors graduated, and then announced his resignation. Mr. Delmas and the Board of Governors tried their best to keep him, even offering him the principal's job, but Juan said no, it was time for him to 'amble on.'

The day Janeway left, Jeremie and Aelita met him at the edge of the pond where his ship was buried.

"Are you sure you have to go?" Aelita said, "we're getting married in two years and we had hoped you would come to the wedding."

"I wish I could, but no," Janeway replied, "I've been taking too many chances already, playing temporal tourist. The last thing I need to do is screw things up just when things got straightened out."

"What will you do?" Jeremie asked.

"Sleep," was the reply, "I'll download my consciousness to the Collective, then dematerialize my body, just like I did with the Borg crew. I'll ride out the years, safe in my little hole in the world, while the world gets on to the business of maturing. Have a good life, you two; if anyone on this rock deserves it, you do."

He was about to turn and teleport to his ship when he remembered something.

"Oh, I almost forgot! One of the things I did was program the nanoprobes to allow you and your descendants to come here to download your consciousness. I'm not stealing your soul or anything like that, but I am giving you the opportunity to add your diversity to ours. In a sense, I'm allowing you to live forever as part of the Collective. You'll know when the time is right, and you'll come back here and be transported to my ship. Whether you do the download or not is up to you, but I'll give you the opportunity. Goodbye, my friends."

With that, Janeway vanished.


	23. First Contact

**Disclaimer**: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners, particularly the characters taken from the animated series, Code Lyoko and the television series Star Trek. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.

* * *

_April 4th, 2063_

_He stood on the Engineering deck and saw his Queen's victory. Locutus fell into the trap laid for him and was now helpless as the Queen's new consort removed the blocks that had been preventing us from controlling the ship. He released the last lock, then targeted the puny human vessel making its way into space. After launching the photon torpedoes, her consort went and stood off to her side._

_In triumph, our Queen said to Locutus, "now, watch your future's end."_

_The three weapons closed with their target, finally meeting it, and missed. The small vessel jumped to warp and disappeared. Immediately, we began an analysis, trying to determine what happened. The answer came quickly; the weapons were programmed to miss the ship by meters. And the one who programmed the torpedoes was..._

"_DATA!!!" the Queen screamed._

_Lt. Commander Data turned our Queen. "Resistance is futile," he said, then shattered the coolant containment tube he stood next to._

_The coolant was corrosive to biological tissue, and we died at its touch. Our Queen tried her best to escape, struggling to throw Locutus down and save herself, but she was pulled back into the mist by Data. As we died, we lamented that we had failed..._

Jeremie suddenly woke up from his dream, sitting up in bed. He bones protested the abuse; even though he was fit for a man in his seventies, he still had the problems such a man had. He turned and looked about him a moment, realizing that he was in his home, in his bed. Next to him, Aelita stirred as she too woke up.

"Are you okay, honey?" she sleepily asked. The years had been as kind to her as they had to him. She was still lithe, even after bearing three children. Her pink hair had changed to a pink-champaign-white. She rolled over slowly and regarded her lover of so many years.

"Yeah, I'm alright," he replied, "it was just a bad dream."

"No, it wasn't," she said, more awake now, worry starting to creep into her face, "it was the Borg. Somehow, they found us again."

"In that case, I think we need to take a little trip," Jeremie said, "in the morning, I think. If there were any danger, it would already be here, so the morning will be good enough." Aelita just nodded and they went back to sleep.

The next morning, Jeremie and Aelita made their way back to Paris, and Kadic Academy. The school was still standing, and still in business. They were greeted at the gate by none other than the principal, one Odd Della Robbia, along with his wife, Elizabeth. The years had changed them; Odd's hair was no longer the spikey blond of his youth, what hair he had was almost totally white. Sissi had plumped out just a bit from her youth. She had obsessed about it in her twenties and almost killed herself starving, until Odd met up with her. He accepted her the way she was, which was all the principal's daughter ever truly wanted in her life. They grew close together, and finally formed a family.

"Hi, Odd, Sissi," Jeremie said, "so, Odd, did you have the same dream we did last night?"

"Yeah," Odd said, "when I woke up this morning, I knew I'd be seeing you two soon. Guess who else is here?"

"Ulrich and Yumi," Aelita said.

"Right in one," Odd replied, laughing, "they showed up here an hour ago. You know, they sure settled down after they got married. Used to be they couldn't keep their hands off each other."

"Well, we all know what happened there," Jeremie said.

"Say," Sissi piped in, "just what's going on here? I haven't seen any of you since college, and Yumi and Ulrich since they eloped; so why all of a sudden are you guys here?"

"Dear heart, let's just say it's an impromptu reunion and leave it at that," Odd said, "now, we're going for a walk in the park. We'll be back later."

"Well, let me go with you," she insisted.

"Not this time, love," Odd replied, "just trust me on this."

"Okay," she said, with just a hint of a pout, "maybe we can all have lunch when you get back?"

"That'll be great," Aelita said.

With that, Odd and the Belpois walked into the park, to a certain pond. There,waiting for them, were Ulrich and Yumi Stern. The years had aged them, their hair turned white like the others, but they still stood tall and proud, their arms around each other.

"I see we weren't the only ones with bad dreams," Ulrich said as they walked up. Aelita ran and embraced Yumi, and the Ulrich. Jeremie and Odd contented themselves with just shaking hands and pecking Yumi on the cheek.

"How are you doing?" Jeremie asked.

"Good," Yumi replied, "we still do the local clubs now and then, when we can pry Odd out of the principal's chair; but mostly we're just living off royalties."

"Ah, yes, the good old days," Odd said.

After they graduated, Ulrich and Yumi made their living singing in local clubs. They struggled for quite a while, for it seemed like something was missing. They found that something a year later when Odd joined them. The trio went on to form a group, Y-O-U. They had modest success in France, and Jeremie and Aelita had watched them perform a few times. But they came to world notice when they released their single, "The Love Of Trillions." It became an overnight international success, because somehow it touched a chord in just about everybody. That was the only hit the group ever had, however; and they quickly slipped back into obscurity.

"Well, we're here now, how do we get in?" Yumi asked. Her question was promptly answered when they all were teleported away.

Once again, they were in the underground chamber that Janeway's ship had dug out so many years ago. As if they were expected, lights showed a path to Janeway's ship, and to its center.

When they got to the alcoves, they saw that they were empty. For a moment, they thought that Dr. Janeway might be standing there, waiting for the to come.

"Welcome back, friends," Janeway's voice came from the room, "I'll just bet you're here because of the Borg. Don't worry, it's not the end of the world. Today is the most wonderful day in Earth's history. Today is the day that humans acquire the means to walk among the stars, and they've met good traveling companions. The Borg are nothing more than a minor irritant to the whole thing. I've heard their song too, and I'm saddened by their deaths, necessary as they were. Now, if you want, you can download your memories into the Collective,where we'll keep them safe. Either way, you can go back to your lives and keep my secrets. No matter what, remember that there are those that love you here, and always will."

All five of them opted to download their memories to Janeway. After they finished, they were transported out, to live out their lives.

From the time they encountered Janeway until they died, Jeremie Belpois, Aelita Stones-Belpois, Ulrich Stern, Yumi Stern, and Odd Della Robbia, lived their lives with a song whispering in the back their minds; a trillion voices telling them, _we love you and we miss you. We wait for our loved ones to come for us, and when they come, we will tell our love for you to them, and share your song with them as we have shared their song with you..._


	24. Rescue

**Disclaimer**: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners, particularly the characters taken from the animated series, Code Lyoko and the television series Star Trek. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.

* * *

_Bajoran Wormhole, 3006_

After launching One-from-One's ship, the Borg cube transited the wormhole to Bajor, and headed back to Earth. Their part of the mission over, they set course to return to San Francisco.

_No, a change of course is required,_ came a voice in the chorus, a small girl's voice, _set your course for Paris, France. We have a mission to complete._

The small voice carried the weight of authority with it, for her words were encapsulated in the Queen's Override Protocol. Even the Borg Queen was surprised, for she wasn't the one who spoke, it was Sakura Stern.

_I'm sorry, Kathy,_ the child said, _but something is making me do this. We have to go to Paris for some reason._

_Don't worry, little one,_ the Borg Queen replied, _I understand completely. We'll go to Paris and see what we find there._

* * *

"That's impossible!" exclaimed the Paris City Engineer, "there can't be anything under Kadic View! That plot has been developed for centuries now! We even have transit tubes running under it, there's no way any kind of ship could be down there!"

"I know, and I understand your sentiments," the Federation Colonel replied, "nevertheless, I've been asked by the President himself to cooperate with the Borg in this matter. The only thing I can do is promise to assist in any reconstruction that might have to take place."

"You don't understand," the Engineer replied, "we've run detailed scans of that area, each time some building project was proposed, but we never once encountered anything, not even terrestrial artifacts. With the historic preservation laws we have here, we have to be thorough."

"And I'm certain you were," the Colonel replied, "but I have a foreign dignitary and a President who aren't going to take no for an answer. I will arrange for you to accompany us when go, but we are going, and that's final."

* * *

The moment the Cube settled in orbit above Paris, the gestation chamber that held Sakura opened. The girl got out and dressed in her clothes that one of the drones brought her, and returned to the examining room where she had been just yesterday.

"If it would be possible, I'd like my parents to join us," the girl said to the assembled drones, "and I'd like Kathy here too. Family should be here when one of their own comes home."

"You are absolutely correct," said a female drone as the others parted for her, the Borg Queen, Admiral Kathryn Janeway, "family should always greet returning family. Your parents are on their way here. When they arrive, we can go down and meet our missing loved ones."

* * *

Three humans and a Borg drone materialized in the courtyard of the Kadic View Apartments, apartment buildings that had stood for over six hundred years. Joining the party was the Paris City Engineer and a Colonel representing the Starfleet Corps of Engineers.

"Yes, the ship is directly below us," Sakura said, "one hundred and fifty kilometers."

"My God," the Paris Engineer exclaimed, "that deep? No wonder we never got a sniff of it. We've never had need to go down that deep!"

"My scans indicate an atmosphere," Kathryn said, "oxygen/nitrogen, Earth normal. The temperature is rapidly falling to comfortable levels, too. We should have no troubles entering. Gentlemen," she then said to the two Engineers, "would you care to join us?"

"I would," replied the Colonel, "I was directed by the President to get as much information about this as I can."

"And you, sir?"

The Paris Engineer replied, "no, thank you. Your vessel is technically outside my jurisdiction. However, I would appreciate it if you didn't suck the city into a massive sinkhole removing you ship."

"We shall monitor the area, and do nothing to disrupt its geologic composition," the Borg Queen replied, "and we shall inform you before we attempt any kind of removal, jurisdiction or not."

With that, those who were going on vanished in a transporter beam.

The party materialized in a dark chamber. The air was fine, but the temperature still a little too high for the humans. After they materialized, soft lights began to come on, revealing two Borg ships, one the ship launched from the Borg Cube yesterday, the other of an ancient design. Sakura led the way, motioning the others to follow.

They made their way into One-from-One's ship, to the central core. The design had changed significantly from yesterday, for now there were ten alcoves there, instead of the one originally sent.

Sakura went over to the pedestal that housed the copy of the Collective and touched it. Instantly, nanoprobes formed within the girl to effect the interface, and a voice spoke from her mouth.

"Protocol requires Queen's verification."

Kathryn Janeway walked over to the unit and touched it. The circuits and programs inside recognized her authority and began to function. In each of the alcoves, all ten of them, Borg drones materialized. In the room, just beyond the crowd, five children appeared.

One of the drones, One-from-One, a.k.a. Juan Janeway, opened his eyes and saw his mother, his Queen, standing below waiting for him. He left his alcove and walked over to her, enveloping her in an irrelevant embrace that both enjoyed.

The other drones stepped out of their alcoves and interfaced with the true Collective for the first time in over a thousand years. After a moment's updating, the drones acknowledged the new Queen and awaited orders. The last refrain that Sakura Rachael Stern ever heard of the Borg's song was the sound of triumph as trillions of minds celebrated their lost children returning home. The nanoprobes that had coursed through her body all her young life shut themselves down, and the last remaining external Borg implant fell from her temple.

While all of this was going on, the five children just stood and watched the strangers before them. Then, one of the boys, the brunette one, noticed Sakura and her family and walked over.

"Hi, I bet you're my descendants," he said, extending his hand, "my name's Ulrich, Ulrich Stern."

"Hi," Sakura replied, "my name's Sakura Rachael Stern. Say, can you tell me what's going on here? I knew for a little while but now I don't."

The rest of the children now had joined Ulrich and the little girl. The Borg Queen and her Prince joined them too.

"Well, I don't know," Ulrich said, "it's not something we tell just anyone. Can you keep a secret?"

"Yes, she can," the Borg Queen replied with a smile, "she's been keeping one for a thousand years now."

* * *

_For a thousand years, my family and others have kept a secret. We've listened to the song of trillions in our minds, waiting for the day that they could be reunited with their loved ones; waiting for the day we could finally tell their story. I, my father, his entire family back to the twenty-first century, and the families of others, have been bottles cast upon the sea of time, carrying a message of the day the Borg first came to Earth, of those who stood against them, and of those who waited for rescue._

_From "The Song Of Trillions," by Sakura Rachel Stern-Robinson  
copyright 3063, UFP Publications_


End file.
